Amid the conflict in Ukraine, Russia and the US surprisingly carried out a long-discussed prisoner exchange. Russia freed American Trevor Reed and took in Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been convicted in the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden confirmed Reed’s release in Washington. Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the exchange at their summit in Geneva in June 2021. Given the strained relations between the two countries, whose relationship has deteriorated dramatically as a result of the war in Ukraine, the development is particularly unexpected.
The United States has repeatedly demanded the release of 30-year-old Reed. He was sentenced to nine years in a prison camp in July 2020 – for allegedly assaulting police officers and resisting Russian state authority while drunk. US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan criticized the verdict as “absurd theater”. Reed’s family also appealed to the US government to do everything possible to free the student. Russian pilot Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States in 2010 for drug trafficking.
Americans landed alongside Russians
Reed’s parents told CNN on Wednesday that they could have spoken to their son after his release. According to Trevor, he was taken by Turkey. “The American plane landed next to the Russian one, and they walked with both prisoners at the same time, as you see in the movie,” said Trevor Reed’s father Joey. After taking off from Turkey, Trevor called.
Interfax news agency reported that Yaroshenko had flown from the Turkish capital Ankara to the Russian city of Sochi on the Black Sea in a special Antonov An-148 aircraft.
suspected tuberculosis
Reed’s parents said their son was examined by a doctor on the plane. They are concerned about their child’s health. “We pray he doesn’t have TB, but we’re still worried because he’s been coughing up blood for months,” said dad Joey Reed.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Reed needed urgent medical attention because of his medical condition. That made the negotiations so urgent.