The White House demanded the speedy release of two Americans held in Russia as President Biden’s new administration makes an early push in seeking the return on U.S. nationals unjustly held abroad.
Press secretary Jen Psaki issued her call hours after retired U.S. Marine Trevor Reed launched an appeal in Moscow against a nine-year sentence for attacking two police officers.
U.S. officials insist he was convicted on the flimsiest of evidence and compare his case with that of another retired Marine, Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year jail sentence for spying.
Psaki urged the Kremlin to demonstrate that it was willing to continue moving forward after extending a crucial nuclear arms control treaty.
“We have a secretary of state who’s now confirmed, we have a national security adviser, and we have a number of officials in the State Department, but I’ll use this as an opportunity to once again call on Russia to swiftly release both Mr. Reed and Paul Whelan,” she said.
“In doing so, on the heels of extending New START, it would demonstrate that Russia is ready to move past intractable issues within the bilateral relationship,” Psaki added, referring to the decades-old nuclear arms reduction treaty that the Biden administration agreed to extend with no new restrictions on Moscow’s arsenal.
Supporters of both men have described them as “hostages” of a turbulent relationship between the two countries.
Last year, Reed’s mother told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Since we know he was just kept as a bargaining chip, we’re hoping our government will intervene.”
However, American officials have declined to use the same terminology. Psaki said: “I don’t think I’m gonna add a new category or categorization from here today.”
The U.S. ambassador to Moscow attended the start of Reed’s appeal on Wednesday. Afterward, John Sullivan told reporters: “It’s an extremely high priority for us that Trevor be treated fairly, that he receive justice — and if he does, he’ll be released.”
A day earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a conference call with relatives of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.
“The secretary stressed the importance the Biden-Harris administration places on transparency in our communications with families and ensured that their family members are a top priority in our diplomatic engagements with both allies and adversaries,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
