Trevor Reed, a former Marine, has been released due to a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States. Reed was sentenced to prison in 2020 after charges of violence arising from a night out in Moscow.
Russia And The U.S. Swapped Prisoners Wednesday, Securing Reed’s Release.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Konstantin Yaroshenko, who has been imprisoned in the United States for almost a decade on cocaine smuggling charges, was released in exchange for the Russian national.
Quick Facts:
- Trump omitted to name Yaroshenko; a Russian pilot convicted of conspiring to transport cocaine into the U.S.
- Yaroshenko has been referred to as an “experienced international drug trafficker” by the United States Justice Department.
- After the transfer, it appeared that the relationship between Washington and Moscow would not improve.
- Senior Biden administration officials cautioned that the negotiations were focused on “a distinct set of prisoner concerns,” even though U.S. opposition to Russian aggression against Ukraine has not diminished.
- Russian authorities claim Reed assaulted a police officer in Moscow after a night of heavy drinking and that he was detained in the summer of this year.
- Although he was finally sentenced to nine years in jail, his family and the United States government have maintained his innocence and portrayed him as having been unfairly imprisoned.
Family’s response:
According to a statement published by the Reed family, Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials, including former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, have been commended “for deciding to bring Trevor home.”
Trevor’s family has confirmed that their prayers have been answered and that he is safely returning to the United States. According to the Washington Post, Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan commended Turkey’s role in assuring Reed’s safe return in a statement issued later that day.
Russia’s Outlook:
Reed’s relatives also said that he showed signs of tuberculosis (T.B.). A lengthy jail sentence for Yulia Yaroshenko had been imposed, and the United States considered the agreement reasonable because the sentence had been commuted. At the decision, John Sullivan, the United States Ambassador to Russia, expressed regret for Reed’s “incarceration for a crime he did not commit.”
Politics on the Border:
Following a prisoner swap on Wednesday, the United States and Russia traded former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, resulting in the cruelest ties between the two countries in decades of the Ukraine crisis.
U.S. officials have stated that the exchange was not part of a more considerable diplomatic effort and did not signal a shift in the United States’ policy toward Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and the subsequent sanctions imposed by the West, Russian-American relations have reached their lowest point since the Cold War.
The Vice President, Joe Biden, explained how he could bring up Reed’s incarceration in light of the increasing crisis in Ukraine during a press conference later in the day.
A chasm had developed between the public and the administration due to the exchange, which occurred during a time of international tensions over Ukraine. However, everything was completed peacefully.
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