WASHINGTON, January 20. /TASS/. A potential exchange of convicts between Russia and the United States remains a priority for the current US administration, US Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday, answering to a question from TASS.

"As it relates to wrongfully detained American citizens but in other countries also, this is a top priority for this secretary and this president, and this is something that this department continues to be deeply engaged on," the spokesman said, when asked whether the Department of State has some new information about possible future exchange of detainees between Russia and the United States.

"Of course we are not going to offer specifics as it relates to those engagements. But this continues to be a top priority, and I don’t have any updates to offer," the spokesman added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on December 8 that Russian citizen Viktor Bout, who was serving a sentence in a US jail on arms trafficking charges, had been exchanged for US basketball player Brittney Griner.

On April 27, 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that former pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko was exchanged for US citizen Trevor Reed. The Russian national was arrested on May 28, 2010 in Liberia. US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers alleged that the pilot had been caught with the criminal intent of transporting a large shipment of cocaine. He was later whisked off to the United States, where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on September 7, 2011. Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty and condemned his arrest as a set-up and insisted that he was framed.