Republican and Democratic lawmakers welcomed the return of Americans imprisoned in Russia on politically motivated charges but expressed concern that an exchange for Russian prisoners could encourage future hostage-taking incidents.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said he was “thrilled” by the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, journalist Ars Kurmasheva and Russian opposition green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza.
But he expressed concern about Russian prisoners being released as part of the exchange, particularly a convicted murderer from a German prison and a criminal convicted in the United States.
“We are concerned that continuing to exchange innocent Americans for Russian criminals held in the United States and other countries sends a dangerous message to President Putin and encourages his regime to engage in further hostage-taking activities,” McCaul said in a statement.
At a brief news conference announcing the release of the four Americans and 12 others, President Biden said he urged Americans “not to go to certain places, to communicate what is dangerous, what is at stake” to prevent hostage takings and politically motivated arrests.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke ahead of approving the prisoner exchange about the difficulty of doing so without encouraging further arrests.
“It’s always a long and short story because Russian detainees should not be detainees. The prisoners we exchange are people who have done really bad things,” he told reporters at a roundtable on Wednesday.
“So that’s always hard for us to accept. But the reality is that that’s who we are as individuals, that’s our values. Our values are that if we can release people who are unjustly detained, we’re going to care for them. We’re willing to make some sacrifices, even though it’s unfair. But it gives some hope to people who shouldn’t be incarcerated.”
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the exchange of American and Russian prisoners in the United States and elsewhere was “unequal.”
“Americans who are wrongfully held are not the same as Russian war criminals. In the Senate, I will continue to oppose every attempt by Putin to use Americans as political pawns to further his outrageous aims. I will never stop fighting for Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully held by Hamas, Communist China, or Americans. [Chinese Communist Party]”Not President Putin, or anyone else,” Young said in a statement.
