an hour agoRussia releases American Trevor Reed in exchange for releasing a Russian pilot
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)Former American businessman Trevor Reed, who has been held in custody in Russia since 2019, was released on Wednesday in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yarosenko, who has been serving a 20-year sentence in the United States, Russia's foreign ministry said. US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the release [...]
US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Mr. Reed's release and said they were working to free another American citizen held in Russia, Paul Whelan.
“Trevor, a former American businessman, has been released from custody”, stressed in a statement by President Biden. President Biden also stressed that he had announced Mr. Reed's parents.
Mr. Beden did not comment on the details of the release, except that he said: “The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I don't take lightly”.
The Reeds family thanked President Biden and other engaged persons, saying that our family has been living a nightmare” over the last 985 days.
The president's action could have saved Trevor's life,” they said in a statement.
They said their son would tell his story when he was ready and asked that their privacy be respected at the moment.
Texas's 30-year-old man was sentenced in 2019, after he allegedly risked the lives of two policemen in Moscow while he was drunk. He went to Russia in 2019 as a visitor. Mr. Reed has dismissed the charges, while Washington called the trial “an absurd theater”.
Russia had proposed an exchange of prisoners for Yaroshencon in July 2019 in exchange for the release of every American citizen. Yarosenko is a pilot convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine. He was arrested by US Special Forces in Liberia in 2010. / VOA
