National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Thursday fully credited President Biden for the safe return of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and other Americans wrongfully detained in Russia.
Sullivan was speaking at the White House’s daily press briefing after the Biden-Harris administration announced a major political prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.
“Today’s exchange is a diplomatic feat that can only be accomplished, frankly, by a leader like Joe Biden and the leadership he’s had,” Sullivan told reporters.
The three Americans, Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Ars Kurmaseva, were released from Russian custody along with American green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza and 12 others. Sullivan said Biden has been “personally involved” in diplomatic efforts to bring the Americans home, including multiple meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leaders of other countries that provided Russian prisoners for the exchange.
Biden calls Russian prisoner swap deal that freed WSJ’s Gershkovich and Whelan a “diplomatic feat”
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a regular press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, August 1, 2024. The White House announced on Thursday that the US was working on an agreement to release Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in Russian custody. “We were working with our partners on an agreement to release Alexei Navalny, but unfortunately he has died,” Sullivan told reporters. (Brendan Smiarowski/AFP) (Brendan Smiarowski/AFP via Getty Images) (Brendan Smiarowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The White House confirmed that President Biden spoke by phone with the Slovenian Prime Minister on Sunday, July 21, to make final arrangements for the agreement to be reached.
“There could be no more striking or tangible demonstration of the importance of the alliances the President has reinvigorated around the world to the American people, to their individual safety and to our collective security. And I am deeply grateful to our allies who supported us through the complex negotiations to achieve this outcome,” Sullivan said.
Biden added that during his speech he reached out to the leaders of Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey to thank them for their contributions to finalizing the agreement.
“This is typical Joe Biden fashion – rallying our allies to save the American people and Russian freedom fighters, rallying his entire team with a precise national strategy to push this over the finish line,” Sullivan said, noting that the president had been in regular contact with the families of those detained as he worked to free them.
Live updates: Prisoner exchange deal with Russia
Three people held captive in Russia, Evan Gershkovich, Ars Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan, pose with U.S. flags to celebrate their release in this undated handout photograph obtained on August 1, 2024. (U.S. Government/Distributed via Reuters)
Gershkovich, 32; He was arrested and accused of espionage while covering a trip to the Ural Mountain city of Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023. The Biden administration declared him “unlawfully detained,” and both the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government strongly denied the charges, describing them as absurd on their face.
Whelan languished in a Russian detention center for years, and sources familiar with the matter told Fox News that Turkish intelligence played a key role in brokering the prisoner swap.
“His goal has always been to put families first, families who are enduring unimaginable challenges,” Sullivan said of Biden.
“From the president on down, we’ve been in regular contact with them. I’ve spent a lot of time with Evan, Paul and Ars’ families and, as you can imagine, most of those conversations have been tough conversations. But today is different,” he said, growing emotional.
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich released in prisoner swap with Russia; Paul Whelan also released
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about the release of the four men at a short event at the White House in Washington on August 1, 2024, attended by several relatives of the four men who were being held in Russia – Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Ars Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
“Today was a really good day. We will use this day to achieve even better results.”
As Sullivan spoke, former President Trump joined Truth Social in demanding that details of the prisoner exchange be revealed.
Trump wrote: “How many of us are prepared to stand up to them? Are we giving them cash? Are they giving us cash (please drop this question because I’m sure the answer is no)? Are we letting murderers, killers and thugs go free?”
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“Just curious. We have never made a good deal on anything, especially a hostage exchange,” the Republican presidential candidate continued. “Our ‘negotiators’ have always been a disgrace to us! I have gotten many hostages back, but I never gave them anything, not even cash. This sets a bad precedent for the future. It has to be that way, or it will get worse. They are blackmailing the United States of America. They call trade ‘complicated’ so no one will understand how bad it is!”
Sullivan told reporters that the prisoner swap would not involve money or sanctions relief.
He also cited concerns that a prisoner exchange could give America’s adversaries an incentive to unjustly detain more Americans, arguing that releasing innocent people would be worth the cost.
“It is difficult to deport a convicted criminal to secure the release of an innocent American, but sometimes we must choose between doing so or leaving that person to spend the rest of their life behind bars in the hands of a hostile foreign country or a hostile power,” Sullivan said.
“So, from our perspective, we have assessed and analyzed that risk and determined that the benefits outweigh the risks, to reintegrate Americans, to bring people home and to justify the idea that the president of the United States and the United States government will do what is necessary to protect and release innocent Americans.”
