The Kremlin refers to “contacts” with Washington regarding an imprisoned American journalist

The Kremlin indicated on Tuesday that it had “some contacts” with the United States regarding the imprisoned “Wall Street Journal” reporter Ivan Gershkovitch, in response to a question about a possible prisoner exchange between the two countries.

On Monday, US Ambassador to Russia Lynn Tracy was allowed to visit Gershkovich in prison after refusing requests for more than two months to visit him.
Russian state media reported that Russian consular officials were allowed to visit Vladimir Dunaev on Monday, an alleged cyber criminal extradited by South Korea to the United States, which is currently in detention.

In response to a question about whether the coincidence of these two visits was an indication of a possible plan for a prisoner exchange, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “There are some contacts in this regard, but we do not want them to become public at all. They must take place and communicate in complete silence.”
He did not provide further information, saying only that “the right to consular access must be respected by both sides.”

Gershkovich was arrested on March 29 while on a journalistic assignment in the Urals.

Gershkovich, who previously worked for Agence France-Presse, is the first Western journalist to be arrested by Moscow on charges of espionage since the Soviet era, amid a sharp deterioration in relations due to the Ukraine war.

The United States, “The Wall Street Journal” and Gershkovich himself strongly denied the charge of espionage.

In December, Russia released basketball star Brittney Grainer, who was convicted of drug possession, in exchange for the release of Viktor Bout, who is imprisoned in the United States on charges of arms smuggling.