The US did not engage with Putin through prisoner exchanges, says the White House Diana Kwasniewska Biden answered the question about the likelihood of a conversation with Putin/Channel 24 Collage (screenshot from video and photo of Francesca Ebel) The West conducted a large prisoner exchange with Russia. Joe Biden confirmed this and commented on the question of the likelihood of a conversation with Putin. The US President said at the White House that a prisoner exchange had indeed taken place. Joe Biden answered the question about whether he plans to speak with the ruler of the Kremlin, writes 24 Channel. I don’t need to talk to Putin, Joe Biden said. That is, the American leader made it clear that he did not have a conversation with the Russian dictator Putin on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a briefing that the United States did not engage with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during preparations for the big prisoner exchange. No interaction directly with Vladimir Putin, Sullivan assured. He explained that Washington interacted with Russian officials as it prepared for exchange. “There was a lot of interaction with Russian officials during this. I'm not going to go into detail because these channels are sensitive and need to be protected for that very reason , because the presence of these sensitive channels allows us to get the results we have today,” explained the White House adviser. What Biden Said About Putin
Sullivan explained the US position
The United States exchanged 16 people, in particular, 5 Germans and 7 Russian citizens, whom the White House called “political prisoners in their country.” During the exchange, the US returned:
- former Marine Paul Whelan,
- Wall reporter Street Journal Evan Gershkovich,
- Radio Liberty journalist Alsou Kurmasheva,
- oppositionist Vladimir Kara-Murza.
It’s worth noting that the last time Biden spoke with Putin was two weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – in February 2022.< /p>
As for whether Biden is ready to talk with the Russian dictator, he spoke out in July 2024, saying that he was not yet ready to directly interact with Vladimir Putin.
