Quotes
We held our breath and crossed our fingers,
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said I want to congratulate you on your return to the motherland,
We can’t wait to give him the biggest hug and see his sweet and brave smile up close,
Gershkovich’s family said in a statement They made bold and brave decisions" to release Russians held for espionage and other crimes in return for the Westerners and Russian dissidents and human rights activists
We welcome the release today of several political prisoners from Russia. The deal that secured their freedom was negotiated by several NATO allies working together,
spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said Mr Kara-Murza is a dedicated opponent of Putin’s regime,
Lammy said in a statement The exchange has been made possible through extensive international cooperation,
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement Let the traitors now feverishly pick up new names and actively disguise themselves under witness protection programmes,
former President Dmitry Medvedev said Our obligation to protect German nationals and our solidarity with the USA were important motivations,
the government said in a statement He was targeted by the Russian government because he is a journalist and an American,
said Joe Biden after Gershkovich was handed down a 16-year sentence earlier this month, following a fast-tracked trial that was designed to speed the way toward a swap Why did Putin kill Navalny now?”
Days later, his ally Maria Pevchikh released a video titled Are we releasing murderers, killers or thugs? Just curious because we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps.”
Donald Trump has already criticised the deal, writing Putin had become maniacal about getting Krasikov back; he really, really wanted Krasikov,
a source with knowledge of Kremlin deliberations on the issue told the Guardian earlier this year Russian troops were losing the battle for Lyman, a small city in eastern Ukraine, in late September when a call came in for the commanding officer on the front line, over an encrypted line from Moscow,
Gershkovich wrote, along with a team of reporters from the Wall Street Journal Journalism is not a crime,
I do not exclude that the person you mentioned, Mr Gershkovich, may end up in his homeland,
Now their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free."
Addressing the swap on Thursday, Biden said from the White House Trump attempted to use Evan Gershkovich, the American journalist recently freed after being falsely imprisoned in Russia, as leverage for his re-election campaign. However, President Biden has denied him that opportunity."
News blog ... The Intellectualist said Evan Gershkovich is finally free. And Trump had nothing to do with it."
Josh Eakle, the president of Project Liberal, tweeted Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and we will be paying nothing
the former president said