The U.S. ambassador to Russia met with Evan Gershkovich, the jailed American reporter for The Wall Avenue Journal, in Lefortovo Jail in Moscow on Monday, the State Division stated hours after their speak.
The go to by the ambassador, Lynne Tracy, marked the third time she had met with Mr. Gershkovich since he was detained by the Russian authorities in March.
“Ambassador Tracy stated that Evan continues to seem in good well being and stays robust, regardless of his circumstances,” the State Division stated in a written assertion.
American officers have stated that their Russian counterparts are blocking them from getting common consular entry to Mr. Gershkovich, the primary American journalist arrested on an espionage cost in Russia because the finish of the Chilly Warfare.
Relations between Washington and Moscow are at their lowest level in a long time following the choice by President Vladimir V. Putin to start out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Analysts say Russian officers beneath Mr. Putin doubtless detained Mr. Gershkovich in hopes of doing a prisoner swap with america.
Russian officers are holding Mr. Gershkovich, 31, on an accusation of spying despite the fact that he’s a journalist with accreditation from Russia’s International Ministry and regardless of the very fact he was doing reporting on the time of his detention.
Brokers from the Federal Safety Service, or F.S.B., detained Mr. Gershkovich on March 29 whereas he was on a reporting journey within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg within the Urals area.
The Wall Avenue Journal and Mr. Gershkovich’s members of the family have denied any accusation that he’s a spy, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken stated in April that he had been wrongfully detained.
In December 2022, President Biden agreed to launch Viktor Bout, an imprisoned Russian weapons supplier, in change for the liberty of Brittney Griner, the American basketball star, practically 10 months after Ms. Griner was detained in Moscow on accusations of drug smuggling and possession. The State Division stated in Might 2022 that she had been wrongfully detained.
Russia has stated it should talk about prisoner releases with america by way of a particular channel that Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin established at a gathering in Geneva in 2021. The negotiations to launch of Ms. Griner came about by way of that channel.
A Russian court docket determined in June to increase Mr. Gershkovich’s detention till a minimum of Aug. 30 and denied an attraction from his legal professionals. The detention was initially purported to have ended on Might 29. Ms. Tracy final met with Mr. Gershkovich in jail on July 3.
