Former President Trump said his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin could help secure the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia for more than a year.
“Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal journalist being held by Russia, will be released shortly after the election, and certainly before I take office,” Trump said. Said he said in a post on Truth Social early Thursday morning. “He will be at home, safe and with his family. Russian President Vladimir Putin would do it for me, but he wouldn’t do it for anyone else, and we I won’t pay anything!”
in response The Kremlin told the Journal that “there is no contact between President Putin and President Trump on this issue.”
President Trump previously said in an interview with Time magazine that he did not know whether Gershkovic would be released while President Biden was in the White House.
“I think Mr. Biden treated Mr. Putin very poorly. Mr. Putin should not have gone to Ukraine, and he did not go during the four years I was with him. I am very close to Mr. Putin. “But the reporter should be released, and he will be released. I don’t know if he will be released under the Biden administration,” Trump said in a Time transcript.
The former president also said he would seek the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter when he returns to the White House.
“I’m surprised by Mr. Biden. Well, I’m not surprised by anything about Biden. But I think this is a terrible precedent. I’m very surprised he hasn’t been released yet, but if we If he’s not released by the time I get to the office, I’m going to get him released.”
Biden addressed Gershkovich’s situation while speaking at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month.
“Evan went to Russia to shed light on the darkness you all fled so many years ago,” the president said. “To his family, everyone in this hall is with you. We are working every day to secure his release, exploring opportunities and means to bring him home. We continue to keep the faith.”
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