Yaroshenko Lawyer Says Contacted Russian Embassy In US For Help After Biden-Putin Summit

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2021) The lawyer for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States, contacted the Russian Embassy in Washington to facilitate a prisoners exchange after the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden in Geneva.

On Wednesday, Putin said after the summit with Biden that they raised prisoners exchange as an issue on which compromises could be found between Russia and the United States.

"I contacted the embassy, expressed my readiness to fully support the American judicial system in order to implement the release of our compatriots," Yaroshenko's lawyer Alexey Tarasov said on Wednesday.

Tarasov said he contacted the Russian diplomats after the summit in Geneva concluded because it offered hope for the release of Russian citizens who are held in US prisons.

"This could be an impetus for movement on the issue of the release of Konstantin Yaroshenko and Viktor But," Tarasov said.

Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in 2010 on suspicion of drug trafficking and later extradited to the United States. In 2011, a US court sentenced Yaroshenko to 20 years in prison for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle a large amount of drugs into the country. Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.