This text appeared in the ‘Top Story’ email newsletter sent on Aug. 3, 2024.
President Joe Biden is set to close out the final months of his presidency on a diplomatic high note after achieving success in a landmark, multinational prisoner exchange.Biden personally greeted the three Americans who were returned to the United States this week after being detained in Russia on what Washington saw as trumped-up charges, in some cases, for years.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and Marine veteran Paul Whelan arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland late on Thursday, where they exchanged hugs and well wishes with the president and were reunited with their families.
After the hugs and the cheers, Biden spoke to reporters on the tarmac, underscoring the essential role played by the nation’s allies in making the deal happen. Alliances that his administration has made a priority to strengthen.
“Alliances make a difference. They stepped up, they took a chance for us, and it mattered a lot.”
Complex negotiations were mediated by Turkey at the request of Biden, with Turkish leadership interceding on behalf of two blocs: Russia and Belarus on the one side, and the United States, Germany, Norway, Poland, and Slovenia on the other.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the success of the prisoner swap as “vintage Joe Biden” and a result of “intricate statecraft.”
To be sure, the swap is something of a feat, as it required Biden to convince key allies to release several Russian intelligence and security operatives, including a convicted assassin and two sleeper agents.
Hours before Biden greeted the three Americans in Maryland, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed freed intelligence and security agents in Moscow, where he promised them state awards.
Among them was Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted of murdering a Chechen dissident in Berlin in 2019. Judges at the time described the murder as an assassination orchestrated by Russia, which Moscow denied until this week.
Biden acknowledged that the burden of the decision to let such criminals go free was ultimately shouldered by America’s allies, who stepped up to help an ally that had helped them so many times before.
“I asked them to do some things that were against their immediate self interests. And it was very difficult for them to do,” he said.
To that end, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz released a statement saying that it was not easy to free the “murderer” Krasikov, but that the decision was necessary to secure the liberty of those detained in Russia.
Scholz’s spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit added that the release of 15 people held “wrongfully” in Russia and Belarus could only be achieved only by deporting Russians “with an intelligence background.”
“Our obligation to protect German citizens and solidarity with the U.S. were important motivations,” he added.
Likewise, when pressed on whether releasing Russian operatives in exchange for journalists and activists was wise, Sullivan said that the need to preserve Americans’ well-being was worth the cost.
“From our perspective, we have assessed and analyzed that risk, and we have judged that the benefit of reuniting Americans and bringing people home ... outweighs the risk,” Sullivan said.
Despite the diplomatic victory, however, government officials were clear to acknowledge that there was no thaw in U.S.-Russia relations.
On that issue, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel signaled that the United States will continue to push for increased aid to Ukraine and to counter Russian aggression more broadly.
“This is not some sort of reset of any kind of relationship,” Patel said. “It is not. There has been no change.”
In all, the swap is likely to be viewed as a crowning achievement of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, which has prioritized strengthening the nation’s alliances and presence in international fora.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Biden underscored the only reason Americans were coming home safely from Russia was because the administration put in the effort to build trust with its partners and allies.
“The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship. Multiple countries helped get this deal,” Biden said.
“This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.”
