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In an interview launched on Thursday, Tucker Carlson urged President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to launch an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who has been held in a infamous Moscow jail for practically a yr.
Mr. Carlson’s enchantment on behalf of the reporter, Evan Gershkovich, was solely the second time that Mr. Putin immediately addressed a case that has galvanized press freedom teams and strained diplomatic relations with the United States.
Large parts of the two-hour interview had been taken up by Mr. Putin’s recounting lots of of years of Russian historical past. But within the last minutes, Mr. Carlson requested, “as an indication of your decency,” if he “could be prepared to launch him to us and we’ll deliver him again to the United States.” Mr. Carlson added: “This man’s clearly not a spy. He’s a child, and possibly he was breaking your legislation not directly, however he’s not a superspy, and all people is aware of that.”
Mr. Putin was noncommittal in his response. “We have achieved so many gestures of excellent will out of decency that I feel now we have run out of them,” he mentioned, in line with a translation of his remarks by Mr. Carlson’s group.
Pressed concerning the case by Mr. Carlson, Mr. Putin later added: “I additionally need him to return to his homeland finally. I’m completely honest. But let me say as soon as once more, the dialogue continues.”
The Russian chief prompt that he needed extra concessions from American officers earlier than he would think about releasing Mr. Gershkovich. Mr. Putin prompt that he could be prepared to commerce the reporter for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian citizen sentenced to life in jail in Germany for the 2019 homicide of a Chechen former separatist fighter in Berlin.
Mr. Gershkovich, 32, was the primary American journalist to be arrested on a spying cost in Russia for the reason that finish of the Cold War, and the U.S. authorities has designated him as “wrongfully detained,” which means he’s primarily thought-about a political prisoner.
He was arrested in March within the Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg and accused of espionage, an allegation that The Journal and American authorities have strenuously denied. Since then, he has been held on the infamous Lefortovo Prison in Moscow pending a trial.
The Journal is owned by the household of Rupert Murdoch, who additionally controls Mr. Carlson’s former employer, Fox News. “We’re inspired to see Russia’s need for a deal that brings Evan residence, and we hope this may result in his speedy launch and return to his household and our newsroom,” the newspaper mentioned in an announcement on Thursday after the published of the Putin interview.
Last month, Mr. Gershkovich, who as soon as labored for The New York Times as a information assistant, was ordered to remain in jail till at the least March 30, the fourth time that his detention has been prolonged. The Russian authorities have indicated that they could be open to a prisoner swap for him, however solely after a verdict in his case.
In December, Valerie Hopkins, a correspondent for The Times, requested Mr. Putin at a information convention about Mr. Gershkovich’s case. The Russian chief answered solely vaguely. “We wish to make a deal, but it surely needs to be mutually acceptable to each side,” he mentioned, including, “I hope we’ll discover a resolution.”
In Thursday’s interview, Mr. Putin supplied a equally hazy reply to Mr. Carlson. “I don’t rule out that the particular person you confer with, Mr. Gershkovich, could return to his motherland,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “But now we have to return to an settlement.
“I hope you let him out,” Mr. Carlson replied.
