Currently 17 US Citizens Held In Russian Prisons - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2021) Currently, 17 US citizens are held in Russian prisons, some of whom have double citizenship, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he had discussed with US President Joe Biden the possibility of a prisoner swap and that a compromise could be reached on this issue.

"We have exactly 17 Americans. However, an important point is that some of these US citizens jailed in Russia also have Russian citizenship," Zakharova said to the RTVI broadcaster.

The spokeswoman also noted that the US media mostly mention Paul Whelan and "maybe a couple others," and inquired if the rest are of no interests to the press.

At the same time, Zakharova stressed that there are around 100 Russians imprisoned in the US now.

Paul Whelan is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage per a Moscow court's verdict delivered last June. Whelan, who is a citizen of the US, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom, has maintained he is innocent and insisted that he came to Russia for a friend's wedding. Court papers have revealed that he has frequented Russia since 2007.