Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a hero's welcome to prisoners freed in a historic exchange with the West as they stepped off a plane in Moscow, promising them state awards and a conversation about their futures. The 71-year-old President thanked them for their 'loyalty to the Motherland' after striking the biggest East-West prisoner exchange deal in post-Cold War period.
The United States said it had negotiated the trade with Russia, Germany and three other countries. The deal, negotiated in secrecy for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners, including 16 moving from Russia to the West and eight prisoners held in the West being sent back to Russia, including Vadim Krasikov, a hitman convicted by a German court of killing a former Chechen militant in a Berlin park.
Russia also welcomed Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznyov - convicted of cyber crimes in the US, along with a Russian family, Artyom and Anna Dultseva and their two children, whom a court in Slovenia convicted of pretending to be Argentinians in order to spy on the EU and NATO member state. The couple are thought to be "illegals" - deep-cover agents trained to impersonate foreigners.
In return, Moscow released US journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, along with Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza. All four returned to the US, where they were received by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their overwhelmed families who tearfully embraced them after several years.
What did Putin say to newly freed prisoners?
Putin met the eight returnees at a Moscow airport and hugged them or shook their hands, giving some of them bouquets of flowers as they came off the plane onto a red carpet flanked by a Kremlin honour guard. The first to disembark, wearing a baseball cap and a tracksuit top, was Krasikov, the hitman, whom Putin hugged.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on your return to the Motherland. Now I would like to address those of you who have a direct connection to military service. I want to thank you for your loyalty to your oath and your duty to your Motherland, which has never forgotten you for a moment," Putin told the returnees. "All of you will be presented with state awards. I will see you again, we will talk about your future."
Domestic FSB intelligence service chief Alexander Bortnikov, SVR foreign intelligence service head Sergei Naryshkin and Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov were also at the airport to welcome the group. Earlier, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said "traitors to his country" should rot and die in prison, but that it was more useful for Moscow to get its own people home.
"And let the traitors now feverishly adopt new names and actively disguise themselves under witness protection programmes," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.
What does the prisoner exchange mean for US-Russia ties?
The last major exchange between the United States and Russia, in 2010, involved 14 prisoners. The two countries had a high-profile exchange in December 2022, swapping US basketball star Brittney Griner, sentenced to nine years for vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage, for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence.
The deal provided the Biden administration with a marquee diplomatic success as the US presidential campaign pitted Harris against former Republican President Donald Trump, entering its final months. However, the multi-country deal appeared to be a one-time exchange that did not reset the antagonistic US-Russia relationship.
The historic deal came at a significant cost for the US as Russians convicted of serious crimes were freed, raising fears of more hostage-taking by American foes. That concern quickly exposed Biden to attacks from Republican opponents. However, the swap provided a much needed foreign policy accomplishment for Biden amid heighted global tensions.
While Biden is widely credited with repairing alliances with NATO and key Asian partners such as Japan and South Korea, his presidency has also been criticised for the controversial pullout from Afghanistan and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. China continues to pose a threat to self-ruled Taiwan and a challenge to US interests in the Indo-Pacific.
(with inputs from agency)
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