Trudeau Urging Russia To Immediately Release WSJ Reporter Gershkovich In Talks With Biden

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2023) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday called on Moscow to immediately release Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich in a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden.

"On the phone today, @POTUS Biden and I spoke about his trip here last month and the work we'll continue to do together, from securing our borders to building clean economies. We also spoke about Ukraine, and we call on Russia to release @EvanGershkovich immediately," Trudeau tweeted.

On March 30, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Gershkovich, a WSJ Moscow Bureau correspondent, in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage in favor of the United States. According to the FSB, the journalist was collecting classified information about the activities of one of Russia's military-industrial complex firms.

Later that day, the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow decided to place Gershkovich in pre-trial detention for two months until May 29.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the reporter had been caught red-handed, and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Gershkovich's activities in Yekaterinburg had nothing to do with journalism.

The WSJ has denounced any charges against Gershkovich and demanded his immediate release. EU High Representative Josep Borrell, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Biden, among many other Western leaders, have condemned the journalist's arrest.