US officials sought to procure the release of deceased Russian dissident Alexei Navalny from Russia during their work on a broader prisoner swap with the adversary that saw the release of three Americans Thursday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed.
Sullivan revealed the information at a White House press briefing about a breakthrough deal with the Kremlin that resulted in the release of wrongly detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich, retired US Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
“We had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexei Navalny. And unfortunately, he died,” Sullivan explained.
“In fact, on the very day that he died, I saw Evan’s parents. And I told them that the president was determined to get this done in light of that tragic news.”
Navalny, 47, who had been one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s chief political rivals, was found dead in a Russian prison nestled in Western Siberia back in February.
Shortly after his death, President Biden declared, “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.” Many Western officials and experts on Russia similarly believe that Moscow deserved blame for Navalny’s death.
Putin has a long history of seeing his enemies die under suspicious circumstances.
Back in 2020, Navalny had fallen ill due to alleged poisoning. Shortly after his return to Russia, Navalny was apprehended and later sentenced to decades in prison for charges of alleged embezzlement, extremism and more.
Western leaders, including the US, had roundly denounced the charges against Navalny.
On Thursday, Biden, 81, had hailed the prisoner swap deal as a “feat of diplomacy” and spoke with the three released Americans via the phone.
“All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,” Biden proclaimed in a statement.
As part of the swap, which involved six countries and two dozen prisoners, Russia managed to secure the return of eight nationals, including three in US prisons — Vadim Konoshchenok, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznyov — two in Slovenia, one in Norway, one in Poland, and Vadim Krasikov from Germany.
Krasikov was a convicted murderer facing life in prison in Germany for allegedly slaughtering a Georgian who had asylum and had battled Kremlin forces in Chechnya.
Putin had made clear during an interview with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson back in February, that he wanted Krasikov set free.
German officials alleged that Russia directed the gunning down of the rebel leader in a Berlin park back in 2019.
Observers have described the prisoner swap deal as one of the largest and most complicated exchanges since the end of the Cold War between Russia and the West.
Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House earlier this year while negotiators were scrambling to hash out a deal of some sort with Russia.
Vice President Kamala Harris had met with Scholz as well.
“It is difficult to send back a convicted criminal to secure the release of an innocent American. And yet, sometimes the choice is between doing that and consigning that person basically to live out their days in prison in a hostile foreign country,” Sullivan admitted to reporters.
Here’s the latest on former Russian prisoner Evan Gershkovich
- Who is Evan Gershkovich, WSJ reporter freed in Russian prisoner swap?
- First photo shows smiling Evan Gershkovich with Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva since they were freed in prisoner swap
- President Biden delivers first remarks since Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and other US captives freed: ‘Their brutal ordeal is over’
- Russia frees American journalist Evan Gershkovich in prisoner swap after 16 months behind bars
- Russia sentences Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in sham trial: ‘An outrage’
Sullivan grew emotional at one point during the presser, which is rare for the 47-year-old.
Back in 2022, the administration won the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner during a swap with notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, aka the merchant of death, in a controversial deal. Griner had been detained for possession of hash oil.
That agreement came months after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which plunged relations with the West to a post-Cold War low.
On March 29, 2023, Moscow detained Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter covering Russia, on bogus espionage charges during an assignment in Yekaterinburg and later sentenced him to 16 years behind bars during a secretive three-day trial.
Ultimately, he spent 491 days detained by the Russians.
Deliberations with Russia and other participants spanned months.
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On the same day that Biden announced his bombshell decision to drop out of the 2024 race, he rang the prime minister of Slovenia to notch a pardon for the two convicted Russian spies in order for the deal to go through, the Wall Street Journal reported.
That ostensibly helped finish off the delicate deal.
Whelan, 54, had been detained in Russia back in 2018 and faced a 16-year prison sentence for espionage charges.
Kurmasheva, 47, who helped edit a book that was harshly critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was convicted last month and dubiously accused of disseminating false information.
“[Biden’s] goal has always been to put the families first, the families who are enduring an unimaginable ordeal. From the President on down, we’ve stayed in regular and routine touch with them,” Sullivan added about the families of the now-freed Americans.
Photos have since emerged showing the trio proudly standing by an American flag after their release. They are expected to land at Joint Base Andrews later in the day Thursday.