Why It MattersThe House has weighed in to condemn Mr. Whelan’s detention in the past, but Tuesday’s resolution was the first time that either chamber of Congress had officially called for Mr. Gershkovich’s release.
Mr. Gershkovich’s arrest came just a few months after a high-profile prisoner swap in which Brittney Griner, an American W.N.B.A.
American officials tried and failed to secure the release of Mr. Whelan in the deal.
Mr. Whelan, who holds American, Canadian, Irish and British passports, has insisted he was visiting Russia as a tourist, and was set up.
It is not clear which Russian prisoners the Kremlin would seek in exchange for either Mr. Gershkovich or Mr. Whelan, or both.
Persons:
Biden, Gershkovich’s, “, Marc Fogel, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Mr, Antony J, Blinken, Roger D, Carstens, Biden’s, Gershkovich, Soviet, Brittney, Viktor Bout, Whelan, Griner’s, ”, —
Organizations:
American, Kremlin
Locations:
U.S, Russia, Russian, American, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, United States