Washington insists on obtaining consular access to The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in the Russian Federation on a case of espionage, the US authorities now consider it premature to discuss the possibility of his exchange. According to TASS, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, stated this position at a regular briefing for journalists.
“We have not yet been able to get consular access. We are constantly raising this issue with the Russian side through our embassy in Moscow,” he said. “This is unforgivable. We need consular access to Evan,” Kirby says.
When asked when Washington would be ready to discuss with Moscow the possibility of exchanging Gershkovich for one of the detained Russians, the NSS officer replied: “I will not get ahead of ourselves about our situation. I think you understand why I won’t talk about possible negotiations here. <…>“. “We’re still at a very early stage,” Kirby added. “The main goal is to get consular access so that we can establish contact <…>”, — said the representative of the White House.
Source: Rosbalt
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