Russian ambassador highlights prisoner swap channel between Moscow and Washington

Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday Moscow and Washington are using an effective channel to swap prisoners in his comment on two Americans, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, both of whom are imprisoned in Russia.

“The issue of prisoner swaps is solved by authorized bodies which presidents agreed about in 2021,” Antonov was quoted in his official channel on the Telegram app.

“The special channel proved to be effective,” he said referring to the prisoner swaps of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout and Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko in exchange for US basketball star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Trevor Reed last year.