The U.S. ambassador to Russia met with Evan Gershkovich, the jailed American reporter for The Wall Road Journal, in Lefortovo Jail in Moscow on Monday, the State Division mentioned hours after their speak.
The go to by the ambassador, Lynne Tracey, marked the third time she had met with Mr. Gershkovich since he was detained by the Russian authorities in March.
“Ambassador Tracy mentioned that Evan continues to seem in good well being and stays sturdy, regardless of his circumstances,” the State Division mentioned in a written assertion.
American officers have mentioned that their Russian counterparts are blocking them from getting common consular entry to Mr. Gershkovich, the primary American journalist arrested on an espionage cost in Russia for the reason that finish of the Chilly Struggle.
Relations between Washington and Moscow are at their lowest level in many years following the choice by President Vladmir V. Putin to begin a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Analysts say Russian officers underneath Mr. Putin possible detained Mr. Gershkovich in hopes of doing a prisoner swap with america.
Russian officers are holding Mr. Gershkovich, 31, on an accusation of spying despite the fact that he’s a journalist with accreditation from Russia’s Overseas Ministry and regardless of the very fact he was doing reporting on the time of his detention.
Brokers from the Federal Safety Service, or F.S.B., detained Mr. Gershkovich on March 29 whereas he was on a reporting journey within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg within the Urals area.
The Wall Road Journal and Mr. Gershkovich’s relations have denied any accusation that he’s a spy, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken mentioned in April that he had been wrongfully detained.
In December 2022, President Biden agreed to launch Viktor Bout, an imprisoned Russian weapons supplier, in trade for the liberty of Brittney Griner, the American basketball star, practically 10 months after Ms. Griner was detained in Moscow on accusations of drug smuggling and possession. The State Division mentioned in Might 2022 that she had been wrongfully detained.
Russia has mentioned it would focus on prisoner releases with america via a particular channel that Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin established at a gathering in Geneva in 2021. The negotiations to launch of Ms. Griner passed off via that channel.
A Russian courtroom determined in June to increase Mr. Gershkovich’s detention till not less than Aug. 30 and denied an enchantment from his legal professionals. The detention was initially alleged to have ended on Might 29. Ms. Tracey final met with Mr. Gershkovich in jail on July 3.
