Former US Marine Paul Whelan, who has been convicted of espionage in Russia, expressed his feeling of abandonment by the United States for failing to come up with proposals that could persuade Moscow to agree to a prisoner swap, as reported by the BBC.
Whelan, who denies the spying allegations, was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room at Moscow’s Metropol Hotel on Dec. 28, 2018. Investigators claimed he was caught with a flash drive containing sensitive information.
The United States has asserted that Whelan is “wrongfully detained” and has repeatedly denied the espionage accusations, demanding his release and proposing various swap deals.
Whelan told the BBC that he felt “abandoned” by the United States and considered a previous swap that left him behind in Russia to be a “serious betrayal.”
“I know the US have all sorts of proposals, but it’s not what the Russians want. So they go back and forth, like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks,” the BBC quoted him saying.
“The problem is, it’s my life that’s draining away while they do this. It’s been five years.”
US citizens at risk in Russia
The United States has repeatedly advised its citizens to leave Russia and warned that those who stay are at serious risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.
Last December, US basketball star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.
When asked this month about a possible prisoner swap for the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Whelan, President Vladimir Putin said he hoped an agreement would be reached, but that the US had to listen to Russia’s conditions.
“It is not simple, I will not go into details now, but in general, it seems to me that we speak a language that is understandable to each other,” Putin said. “I hope we will find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision, one that suits the Russian side.”
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said after the Putin remarks that Russia had rebuffed a serious proposal. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States wanted a deal.
A publicly appointed Russian monitor said on Thursday that Whelan had “noted several problematic points from his point of view regarding the conditions of detention” when she visited his penal colony.
“At the same time, when we toured the colony and communicated with other convicts, no comments or complaints were received from other convicts,” said Lyudmila Rezyapkina, deputy head of the Mordovia regional monitoring committee.