Russia could consider swap for WSJ’s Gershkovich after verdict

Russia could consider the possibility of a prisoner exchange for jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich only after a Russian court renders a verdict, reports Journal reporter Ann Simmons.

Simmons writes, “Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state news agency TASS on Thursday that ‘the issue of exchanging anyone can be considered after the court issues its verdict specifically on a particular charge,’ he said.

“Mr. Ryabkov also said that any talks to swap Mr. Gershkovich, as well as Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine serving a 16-year sentence for espionage, would use a channel that Moscow and Washington tapped in the past for such talks.

“‘We have a special channel for this, the special services are engaged in this, and they will continue to deal with this issue,’ Mr. Ryabkov said, according to TASS.

“The official also said that there would be no need for the involvement of a third country in such talks.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.