28 Jul 2022 12:36

Russian, U.S. agencies negotiating possible prisoner swap; no tangible result achieved yet - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States have not yet achieved any tangible result concerning a possible swap of the two countries' citizens held in detention or imprisonment, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"A possible exchange of Russian and American citizens held in confinement in the territories of the two countries has earlier been talked over by the Russian and U.S. presidents. They have given instructions to the relevant authorized institutions to conduct negotiations. They are being conducted by authorized agencies. No concrete result has been achieved as of yet," Zakharova said in a commentary published on the ministry's website, in reply to a request for comment on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remark about a "substantial proposal" made by the U.S. on possibly exchanging Russian citizen Viktor Bout convicted in the U.S. for American citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

"That said, we assume that the interests of both parties must be taken into consideration during the negotiating process," Zakharova said.