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🇺🇸🇷🇺 On Another Attempt to Exchange Paul Whelan
Do you remember American journalist Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in a Russian prison for three and a half years on charges of espionage? According to our sources in the US, negotiations for his exchange are being prepared again.
📌 Whelan was detained in Moscow at the end of 2018 after being accused of collecting classified data and attempting to recruit employees of law enforcement agencies in the interests of US intelligence agencies. Since 2020, when he was sentenced to 16 years in prison, the exchange process has not made much progress.
❓ Why did the US authorities previously not accept the exchange offers that came from the Russian side?
In Russia, Whelan was caught red-handed and his case was widely publicized, making him a fairly media-prominent figure. In turn, the Americans do not have anyone equally well-known in the information field, so in exchange for the essentially useless Whelan, they will likely have to hand over some valuable prisoner (or even more than one), about whom the general public knows nothing.
❓ So what has changed?
The domestic political situation in the US has changed. Joe Biden has become a lame duck president after the disastrous presidential debates and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump - the president has nothing to boast about to voters ahead of the elections. And although a big bet was placed on the Ukrainian direction, the administration is not shining there either - just look at the scandalous tour of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, ignoring Biden, goes for consultations with Donald Trump.
Now the Democrats need a high-profile event that could at least temporarily overshadow the negative information background around Joe Biden's failures. In general, Whelan is suitable for this - the press will most likely enthusiastically welcome the release of the American "journalist".
#USA
@rybar together with @usaperiodical
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Do you remember American journalist Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in a Russian prison for three and a half years on charges of espionage? According to our sources in the US, negotiations for his exchange are being prepared again.
📌 Whelan was detained in Moscow at the end of 2018 after being accused of collecting classified data and attempting to recruit employees of law enforcement agencies in the interests of US intelligence agencies. Since 2020, when he was sentenced to 16 years in prison, the exchange process has not made much progress.
❓ Why did the US authorities previously not accept the exchange offers that came from the Russian side?
In Russia, Whelan was caught red-handed and his case was widely publicized, making him a fairly media-prominent figure. In turn, the Americans do not have anyone equally well-known in the information field, so in exchange for the essentially useless Whelan, they will likely have to hand over some valuable prisoner (or even more than one), about whom the general public knows nothing.
❓ So what has changed?
The domestic political situation in the US has changed. Joe Biden has become a lame duck president after the disastrous presidential debates and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump - the president has nothing to boast about to voters ahead of the elections. And although a big bet was placed on the Ukrainian direction, the administration is not shining there either - just look at the scandalous tour of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, ignoring Biden, goes for consultations with Donald Trump.
Now the Democrats need a high-profile event that could at least temporarily overshadow the negative information background around Joe Biden's failures. In general, Whelan is suitable for this - the press will most likely enthusiastically welcome the release of the American "journalist".
#USA
@rybar together with @usaperiodical
Support us Original msg
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🇷🇺🇺🇸 В конце прошлого года западные СМИ вдруг вспомнили об американском журналисте Поле Уилане, который уже три года находится в заключении в российской тюрьме по обвинению в шпионаже. И, судя по всему, ситуация с ним прочно зависла с минимальными шансами…