On Thursday, officials from the United States and Russia said, amid a broader effort from the two countries to reform relations, that the American citizen was released from the Russian reservation in a prisoner’s swap.
The American, Kesenia Karelina, was serving a 12 -year prison sentence in Russia after being convicted of treason to donate about $ 50 for a non -profit group that sends help to Ukraine. She also holds Russian citizenship.
Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Mrs. Carlina, 33, was “on a plane at home for the United States.”
“Russia has detained incorrectly more than a year ago, and President Trump has been released.”
The Russian Intelligence Agency said that Mrs. Carlina had been released after a presidential pardon in exchange for Artur Petrov, a citizen of Russia and Germany, who was accused by the Ministry of Justice of violations of control of export.
Prisoners’ exchange has highlighted how Moscow and Washington were ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy even with the emergence of talks led by the Trump administration about the potential ceasefire in Ukraine.
This came at a time when we meet American and Russian diplomats in Türkiye to discuss practical measures to improve relations – such as resuming direct flights and employment levels in embassies.
The CIA said it had played a major role in swap. He said in a statement that the exchange has been negotiated with other partners, including the United Arab Emirates, and showed “the importance of maintaining open lines with Russia” despite the challenges.
“Today, President Trump brought to an incorrectly detained house from Russia,” John Ratcliffe, director of the agency, said in a statement. “I am proud of the CIA employees who worked tirelessly to support this effort.”
It was not clear whether Thursday’s exchange would lead to more diplomatic breakthroughs between the United States and Russia. Despite the wave of prominent meetings over the past weeks, there are still many important issues under discussion without a solution, such as the return of diplomatic property and the future of sanctions.
The detention of Mrs. Carlina was one in a series of cases that sparked fears that the Kremlin seeks to use American citizens as bargaining chips to be exchanged for the Russian detained in the West. An American basketball star, Britney Greenner, and a journalist, Ivan Geckovich, was released in the barter of the prominent prisoners during the Biden administration.
In February, Russia agreed to release Mark Vogel, the American teacher who was imprisoned in Russia for drug charges. The release of Mr. Vogel – which was ranked by the Biden administration as wrongly detained – was part of a deal with the Kremlin that Mr. Trump’s envoy negotiated to the Middle East, Steve Witkev.
On the other hand, officials said that the United States agreed to release Alexander Phoenic, a Russian who was convicted of consuming money laundering. This was seen as an attempt to prove goodwill as the Trump administration sought ways to bring an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, which Russia began more than three years ago.
Later that month, Russia issued an American citizen arrested 10 days ago at Moscow airport for drug smuggling.
However, the other Americans remain in the Russian reservation, including Stephen Hobard, a teacher of Russia’s Estan in Ukraine, which Washington is pressuring.
A prisoner’s swap on Thursday – which was The Wall Street Journal reported for the first time – It took place at the airport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, with the mediation of the Emirati, according to the Russian Intelligence Agency. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a smiling picture of Mrs. Carlina on the airport runway.
Her fiancé, Chris van Herden, said it was “overwhelmingly” by the news. In a statement shared by Global Reach, an organization that was pressing Mrs. Carlina, expressed her gratitude to Mr. Trump and US officials.
Mrs. Carlina, who lives in Los Angeles, was arrested last year while visiting her grandparents in Yatrinburg, a city about 850 miles east of Moscow. The charges against her time to Razm to Ukraine, a New York -based, is a non -Military assistance to the country.
Mr. Petrov, 33, was held in Cyprus in 2023 and then was delivered to the United States. The Ministry of Justice accused him of conspiring to smuggle the American electronic devices of military factories in Russia, which produces weapons for its war in Ukraine.
In a video released by the Russian Intelligence Agency on Thursday, Mr. Petrov was seen as a medical examination on a plane and said he was “satisfied but really tired.”
Julian Barnes The reports contributed.