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US-Russia prisoner swap required tough steps from other countries, Biden says

According to the US president, Russia released 16 people as part of the prisoner swap, including former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, convicted in Russia of espionage

US President Joe Biden AP Photo/Alex Brandon

US President Joe Biden

© AP Photo/Alex Brandon

WASHINGTON, August 2. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden has acknowledged calling on other countries to act against their own interests in order to ensure a prisoner swap between Washington and Moscow.

"The toughest call on this one was for other countries because I asked them to do some things that were against their immediate self-interest. And it was really very difficult for them to do, particularly [for] Germany and Slovenia. Slovenia came in at the last minute," Biden told reporters after greeting the Americans released in the prisoner exchange at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported earlier that eight Russian nationals, detained or convicted in several NATO countries, had returned home following a prisoner swap conducted at Ankara’s airport. Those swapped included a Russian citizen known under the name of Krasikov, who had been sentenced for life imprisonment in Germany. The Russians were exchanged for a group of individuals who had acted in the interests of other countries.

According to Biden, Russia released 16 people as part of the prisoner swap, including former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, convicted in Russia of espionage.

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