Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said "an agreement can be reached" over the release of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, signaling he is open to an exchange for a Russian prisoner serving time in Germany.
"At the end of the day, it does not make any sense to keep [Gershkovich] in prison in Russia.
We want the U.S. Special Services to think about how they can contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing.
We are ready to talk," Putin said, repeatedly indicating that negotiations over the journalist's future were underway.
The Wall Street Journal strongly denies the charges of espionage levied against Gershkovich, a Russia correspondent at the paper, and says he was in Yekaterinburg on a legitimate reporting trip before he was imprisoned in March 2023.
Persons:
Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Putin, Putin's, Tucker Carlson, Putin, Vadim Krasikov, Zelimkhan
Organizations:
Street, Fox News, Kremlin, Russian Federation, U.S . Special Services, Gershkovich
Locations:
Russia, Lefortovsky, Moscow, Germany, Ukraine, U.S, Russian, Chechen, Berlin, Yekaterinburg