Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Thursday that an American citizen had been launched from Russian custody in a uncommon prisoner swap, amid a broader effort by Washington and Moscow to fix relations.
The prisoner, Ksenia Karelina, a twin citizen of Russia and america, was serving a 12-year sentence in Russia after being convicted of treason for donating about $50 to a nonprofit group that sends help to Ukraine.
Mr. Rubio stated on Thursday that Ms. Karelina, 33, was “on a aircraft again residence to america.”
“She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a yr and President Trump secured her launch,” he wrote on X.
Information of Ms. Karelina’s launch was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which stated the transfer was a part of a prisoner swap that came about in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital.
It got here as U.S. and Russian diplomats had been assembly in Turkey to debate resuming direct flights and restoring staffing ranges at embassies in each nations.
In February, Russia agreed to release Marc Fogel, an American trainer who was imprisoned in Russia on drug costs. The discharge of Mr. Fogel — whom the Biden administration had classified as wrongfully detained — was a part of a cope with the Kremlin negotiated by Mr. Trump’s particular envoy to the Center East, Steve Witkoff. In alternate, america launched Alexander Vinnik, a Russian who had been convicted of conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
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