The historic prisoner swap with Russia on Thursday that freed U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and 15 other Westerners was the result of painstaking secret talks and a crucial phone call from President Joe Biden, an hour before he dropped his bid for a second Democratic presidential term.
Biden welcomed the families of three U.S. citizens and a permanent resident to the White House, just as the release was taking place in Ankara, Turkey.
After calling their loved ones from the Oval Office in a highly emotional setting, the four families appeared with the president in front of reporters.
When asked what he said to US citizens who had just been released, Biden replied: “I said, 'Welcome (almost) back home.'”
Behind the scenes movement
Outside of public attention, the White House has gone to great lengths to free journalists. Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, journalist Radio Liberty Alsu Kurmasheva, and a US green card holder known as a vocal critic of Putin, Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The release effort means holding high-level talks with Russia and this comes as East-West relations are in open conflict due to the war that Russia launched into Ukraine since February 24, 2022.
But some U.S. officials say that also means relying on European allies who are reluctant to meet Russian demands to return scores of Russian citizens jailed in the West for serious crimes.
Biden finally put the pieces of the puzzle together on July 21, the same day the 81-year-old Democrat made a surprise announcement that he would not seek re-election in November.
He made the remarks from his home in Delaware, where he is recovering from COVID-19. Although before making the announcement, Biden actually had one more item on his agenda related to the prisoner release deal.
“I'm not making this up. Literally an hour before he released his withdrawal statement, he was on the phone with his counterpart in Slovenia, urging them to make final arrangements and get this deal done,” a senior US official said.
Slovenia later released two Russian citizens, who had been convicted by a court on spying charges.
Full of tension
However, no one knows for sure that the deal will last until the end.
Tensions between the negotiating team and the families were evident as White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan choked up at the podium as he hailed what he called a “good day.”
“We were holding our breath and crossing our fingers until a few hours ago,” he said.
The process leading to Thursday’s good news began in 2018, when Whelan was arrested and Donald Trump was still president of the United States. While Whelan was in custody, Gershkovich was also arrested while reporting in Yekaterinburg in March 2023. Suddenly, “these efforts became much more complicated,” Sullivan said.
In what critics have described as a state-sponsored hostage-taking, Russia's biggest condition for the release of the two Americans was the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian citizen jailed in Germany for the 2019 killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin.
Germany refused to hand over the assassins who had committed such blatant murders on its territory.
To persuade Berlin, Sullivan said, “it will require broad diplomatic engagement with our German counterparts, starting at the top with the president.”
The strained diplomatic relations worsened in February when Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny – who Sullivan said was also on the US wish list for release – died in a Russian prison.
“Our team feels helpless,” the senior US official added.
Biden Expresses Thanks to US Allies
The breakthrough came in Oval Office talks between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Biden in April.
“Chancellor Scholz responded to the president by saying, 'For you, I will do this,'” the US official added.
Biden on Thursday thanked Scholz, and praised the US allies' “courageous” decision.
Once an agreement is reached, a careful choreography ensues.
Russia expedited the trial of Gershkovich, which resulted in a 16-year prison sentence, but behind the scenes it hinted that Russia was preparing the swap.
A prisoner exchange ceremony at the White House on Thursday brought this diplomatic – and deeply personal – journey to a head.
Knowing it was Kumasheva's daughter's 13th birthday, Biden asked family members and reporters in attendance to sing “Happy Birthday” to her — perhaps the happiest moment. (em/jm)
