Blinken speaks to Russian counterpart about arrested US journalist
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Kremlin to release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a phone call Sunday with his Russian counterpart, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, conveying the United States' "grave concern" over the "unacceptable detention" of a U.S. citizen, according to Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department.
"The secretary called for his immediate release. Secretary Blinken further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan," said Patel, referring to the American held in Russia on espionage charges since 2018.
According to a read out of the phone call released by the Kremlin, Lavrov emphasized that Gershkovich "was taken red-handed while trying to obtain classified information, collecting data constituting a state secret under the guise of journalistic status."
"In the light of the established facts of illegal activity of a U.S. citizen, of whose detention the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was notified in accordance with the established procedure, his further fate will be determined by the court," the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin said that during the conversation, Lavrov emphasized officials in Washington and the Western media are "escalating the hype with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring."
Blinken and Lavrov also spoke of the "importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work," according to Patel.