The US continues its public push for consular access to Evan Gershkovich as the top official handling hostage negotiation committed to bringing the detained Wall Street Journal reporter home from Russia.
“The Russians owe us a consular visit. We have yet to have consular access to Mr. Gershkovich,” US special envoy for hostage affairs Roger Carstens told “CNN This Morning.”
Asked if a prisoner swap is on the table, Carstens said that the US is committed to bringing Gershkovich and others who are wrongfully detained home and that US President Joe Biden would do “whatever it takes to get that job done” and is willing to make “hard decisions.”
“The President of the United States and the Secretary are committed to bringing Evan home and Paul Whelan as well. And we're gonna find whatever it takes to get that job done. We’re not going into the specifics of the pathways of negotiation. To my mind that might decrease our chances to garner that release, but I can tell you that the President’s shown time and time again that he's committed, he's willing to make the hard decisions to find ways to bring Americans home,” he said.
Now that Gershkovich has been formally designated by the State Department as wrongfully detained, Carstens said it “by force of law obligates the United States of America to seek a wrongfully detained American’s release. And that's what we're doing right now. My office is working closely with the National Security Council at the White House to find those paths that will bring Evan home.”
More on Americans detained in Russia: Carstens said he spoke with Paul Whelan for about 15 minutes on Monday and they spoke “about Evan’s case.”
“Paul’s spirits are still good. He's still remaining strong. He's still resilient. Small known fact — I mean, he sings the National Anthem every day from his prison cell, and he's ready to come home and we're going to find a way to bring him home,” he said, adding that his office does not prioritize cases and both Whelan and Gershkovich, along with the 30-40 cases currently being handled by his office are “treated equally.”
Carstens noted that there have been conversations between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as discussions between US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy and her counterparts.
“We've been pressing them for Evan’s release, we've been pressing them for consular access, and anything beyond that I'd rather not talk about. I want to maintain some of our negotiation space,” Carstens said, adding, “We’re going to find a way to bring Evan and Paul Whelan home.”