U.S. insists on release of Whelan, Gershkovich - State Dept

WASHINGTON. Aug 17 (Interfax) - The United States continues to insist that its citizens Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich be released, the Department of State's spokesman Vedant Patel said on Thursday.

"Our view continues to be that Russia should immediately release Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich," Patel told a briefing.

He reiterated State Secretary Antony Blinken's "serious proposal" to Russia on Whelan.

Patel also confirmed that Blinken spoke to Whelan on Wednesday evening.

"The Secretary [Blinken] was able [...] to tell Paul that President Biden and he remain committed to bringing him home and are doing everything they can to do so," Patel said.

During the phone call, Blinken told Whelan about the work done to secure his return home, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

This was their second telephone conversation, the report said.

The arrest of Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, b. 1991, was announced by the public relations center of Russia's Federal Security Service on March 29. According to the FSB, the journalist, "acting at the behest of the American side, was gathering intelligence that constituted a state secret about the operation of a Russian military-industrial enterprise."

Whelan, who in addition to U.S. citizenship has Irish, Canadian and British passports, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in jail by the Moscow City Court on June 15, 2020.