David Whelan Doubts His Brother Will Be Included In Potential US-Russia Prisoner Swap

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published June 14, 2021 | 08:36 PM

David Whelan told Sputnik on Monday that he doubts his brother Paul Whelan, US citizen and ex-marine jailed in Russia on espionage charges, will be a part of a potential prisoner swap between the two countries

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2021) David Whelan told Sputnik on Monday that he doubts his brother Paul Whelan, US citizen and ex-marine jailed in Russia on espionage charges, will be a part of a potential prisoner swap between the two countries.

In an interview with NBC ahead of his meeting with the US counterpart Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that he is open to such a deal.

"President Putin was still not referring to Paul... But I think the Russian government has been clear that they plan to keep Paul locked up.

Perhaps the concession the government hopes to extract has not yet been proffered," David Whelan said.

Paul Whelan, who was arrested in December 2018, is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage per a Moscow court's verdict delivered last June. The convict, who is also a citizen of 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.