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US readying new proposal to exchange Gershkovich, Whelan — State Department

"We are hoping that we can find something that will also interest the Russians," special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the US State Department said

WASHINGTON, April 4. /TASS/. The US is putting together a new proposal to exchange Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who are charged with and convicted of espionage in Russia, respectively, said Roger Carstens, a special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the US State Department.

"We're trying to cobble together, bring together those things that the United States is able to offer. And we are hoping that we can find something that will also interest the Russians, to the point that they're willing to send Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich back to us," he said at a meeting with the Washington-based Defense Writers Group, which includes TASS.

Whelan, a former US intelligence officer, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, while receiving a flash drive containing data on some employees of the Russian Federal Security Service. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in Russia on espionage charges in March 2023. He faces up to 20 years in prison. He has not pleaded guilty.

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