Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, who until yesterday were being held hostage in Russian prisons on trumped-up charges, are finally back on U.S. soil.
Thursday’s multi-nation prisoner exchange, which took place at Ankara airport in Turkey, was the largest between the United States and Russia since the collapse of the USSR more than 30 years ago. This unexpected turn of events has left many people wondering why the exchange took place and why now.
The winners here are most clearly the individuals themselves, many of whom were facing long prison sentences. The move was also a win for President Biden and his administration. Social media was immediately awash with an ironic video clip of former president Donald Trump arguing that only he could negotiate the release of Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter whose face has been a fixture of the paper’s front page for nearly 500 days.
What will Russians think about the deal?
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The full text of this article is available via The Boston Globe.
Interim Executive Director, Davis Center
