Quotes
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 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."
I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release,
Whelan told CNN at the time A lot of people at the time were wondering why she was meeting with (Golob),
a White House official said In early July, the Russians had agreed in principle (to the swap) and then in late July they accepted it,
Then we hit the ground running" and an inter-agency taskforce began working to finalize the complicated arrangements for the swap
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,
Neither should have spent a single day in a Russian prison for doing their jobs as journalists.,
We are hugely relieved by reports that both Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva have been released, following 16 months of detention for Gershkovich, and nine months for Kurmasheva,
Rebecca Vincent, the director of campaigns for Reporters Without Borders, said in the statement Now, she gets to celebrate with her mom. That’s what this is all about, families able to be together again, but they should have been all along,
Biden said during his address Thank you again to everyone who did their part. In just a few hours, welcome home, our fellow Americans,
Why didn’t he do it when he was president?”
When asked during his address to respond to former President Donald Trump’s They all sounded strong of voice, strong of mind, strong of spirit,
Blinken said, speaking from the Yokota Air Base, a Japanese and American air force base in Tokyo, Japan Deals like this one come with tough calls. There are never any guarantees,
These are always incredibly hard decisions”
They made bold and brave decisions, released prisoners being held in their countries who were justifiably being held and provided logistical support to get the Americans home,
I told them the hospitality at home would probably be a lot better than the hospitality they have been receiving. It was just very good to actually hear them,
Now their brutal ordeal is over, and they’re free,
Biden said, flanked by 11 family members of the released prisoners