Russia turns down US demand to release detained American scribe

Moscow/Washington: Russia today outrightly rejected the United State’s demand for the immediate release of the Washington Post scribe Evan Gershkovich who was detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the US  Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken that the “future fate of this US citizen will be decided by the court of law in light of the established facts of his unlawful activities”.

Lavrov noted that the American scribe had been caught “red-handed” while attempting to obtain classified information constituting a state secret under the cover of his status as a journalist. He told Blinken that the US Embassy in Moscow had been duly notified of the journalist’s detention in keeping with the existing procedure.

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“In the context of the discussion that followed, his [Blinken’s] attention was drawn to the need to respect the decisions taken by the Russian authorities in accordance with the laws and international obligations of the Russian Federation. It was underscored that the uproar being raised by officials in Washington and the Western media with a clear intent to give this case a political slant was unacceptable,” the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry stated.

The phone call was initiated by the US side. Blinken, who had called up his Russian counterpart, conveyed the USA’s “grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist”.  Besides demanding the immediate release of Gershkovich,  the Secretary also urged the Kremlin to immediately release another  “wrongfully detained” US citizen Paul Whelan.

“The Secretary and Foreign Minister Lavrov also discussed the importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work,” the State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel, stated.