Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the government was ready to consider a request by freed hostage Evan Gershkovich to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
“If such a request is made we will consider it. If we determine that the president needs to give interviews to foreign media, he will do so,” Peskov said. Said.
Gershkovich, 32, The Wall Street Journal rThe Russian government abducted him during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023. He was held without charge for more than a year, but in July Putin’s regime absurdly tried him as a CIA spy.
Gershkovich’s secret trial proceeded with astonishing speed, and he Sentenced He served 16 years in a maximum security prison. Released The prisoner exchange agreement between Russia and the United States was announced on Thursday.
During his final days as a prisoner, Gershkovich Instructed To formally request a pardon from President Putin – since Russia routinely convicts hostages in secret trials before using them as bargaining chips, requesting a “pardon” for a “crime” that doesn’t exist was a bit of a theatrical feat that Gershkovich had to endure in order to get out of prison.
At the end of the pardon application, there is a section that prisoners usually leave blank – and Mr Gershkovich used it to ask for a one-on-one meeting with Putin.
Peskov said Friday that the Kremlin receives numerous requests from foreign journalists wanting to interview Putin, and that Gershkovich’s unusual request would be considered like any other.
Gershkovich Arrived He was released Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland along with two other Americans who were released in a prisoner swap deal.
