Paul Whelan was
detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage.
MOSCOW, January 11.
/TASS/. Exchanging Paul Whelan who was detained in Russia on suspicion of
espionage for Russian citizens jailed in the United States is out of the
question right now, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told
reporters at a press briefing on Friday.
"I would like to
emphasize that exchanging Paul Whelan for someone held in custody abroad is out
of the question at the current stage," she said. "There are numerous
reports on that score, there are outright speculations and fake news, but I
have now voiced the official Russian stance."
The diplomat recalled
that Whelan had been detained in Moscow on December 29, 2018, while on a spy
mission and was currently at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.
"Paul Whelan
entered Russia with a US passport. Due to that, US representative were granted
consular access as early as January 2," the diplomat noted. "During
the investigative activities, it turned out that the arrested individual has
the citizenship of three more countries, that is, the UK, Ireland and Canada.
The embassies of the aforementioned countries were immediately notified of
that."
According to
Zakharova, representatives of those countries got in touch with the Russian
Foreign Ministry regarding the possibility of visiting Whelan. "They will
get such an opportunity by mutual agreement and at mutually convenient
time," she concluded.
The embassies of the
UK, Ireland and Canada will receive consular access to Paul Whelan detained in
Moscow on espionage charges, she added.
She noted that
employees of the US Embassy in Moscow had been promptly granted access to
Whelan. "During the investigative activities, it turned out that the
arrested individual holds citizenship of three other countries, that is, the
UK, Ireland, and Canada," she pointed out. "The embassies of the
aforementioned countries were immediately notified of that."
"For their part,
they asked for a visit. They will get such an opportunity by mutual agreement
and at mutually convenient time," Zakharova said.
Source: ITAR-TASS
11-01-2019
