Quotes
The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy - and friendship,
Biden said at the White House on Thursday, flanked by some of the family members of the Americans his administration helped free I particularly owe a great sense of gratitude to the chancellor,
Biden told reporters today Now, their brutal ordeal is over and they’re free,
Through many difficult conversations over the past several years, I told the families of those wrongfully detained in Russia that we would not forget them,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday She moved the ball forward significantly in that meeting,
Today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world,
he said in an address from the White House while joined by families of four — three Americans and one green card holder — who were released I cannot even begin to describe the happiness and relief that this news brings and I know all of you wil feel the same.”
Emma Tucker, the Journal's top editor, called it a “day of great joy” and said We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.”
In his Oval Office address to the American people discussing his recent decision to drop his bid for a second term, the Democrat said You know our country well. You know are system well. We are both adults. You know that for all our efforts to learn information, we do not use journalists."
Griner could go, and so too could detained former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted of spying, a charge he and the U.S. deny, as part of a deal for Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov
They approached Washington repeatedly with an offer, a U.S. official said A lot of people at the time were wondering why she was meeting with (Golob),
a White House official said I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release,
Whelan told CNN at the time Then we hit the ground running" and an inter-agency taskforce began working to finalize the complicated arrangements for the swap
In early July, the Russians had agreed in principle (to the swap) and then in late July they accepted it,
For you I will do this,
He told Biden ... Sullivan told reporters on Thursday A spy for a spy,
is how the deal was framed ... a U.S. official recalls, referencing Moscow's charges that Whelan and the U.S. have denied He is a journalist who works for an internationally and respected news outlet,
It also says a lot about us that this deal includes the release of Russian political prisoners,
We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit,
Why didn't he do it as President?"
Asked what he would say to former President Donald Trump, who claimed he would have gotten the American prisoners released without anything in return, Biden said