With US-Russia relations at an all-time low, it seemed unlikely that we could hope for the release of Reed, a former Marine who had been held in Russia for almost three years. This week, however, the Biden government completed the kind of deal it had previously resisted by trading Reed with Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and convicted drug dealer serving a 20-year Connecticut prison sentence. A series of events and reflections over the past two months have helped facilitate the exchange, including the escalation of Reed’s health concerns, a private meeting at the Oval Office between his parents and President Joe Biden and a secret trip to Moscow by a former diplomat on the brink of war in Russia. with Ukraine. “All three of them forced the White House to make a decision they had not made before,” said Mickey Bergman, vice president at the Richardson Center for Global Commitment. How the war – and the collapse of US-Russian relations – affected the agreement is unclear. U.S. officials have said that the talks on Reed’s release were narrow-minded, focused on the captives rather than on Russia, and did not reflect a broader diplomatic commitment. But while the timing of the deal was staggering, it is also clear that the foundations for it were laid before the conflict began. “I did it,” Biden told reporters Wednesday about the deal. “I grew up with it. “I raised it three months ago.” At the time the war was about to begin, Bergman and his colleague Bill Richardson, former US ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of New Mexico, flew to Moscow on a FedEx board meeting. with the Russian government. officials. It was a continuation of the negotiations they had for the release of Reed and another American prisoner, corporate security officer, Paul Whelan. They left with the outlines in place for the one-on-one exchange that eventually took place. In Texas, Joy and Paula Reed were concerned that Russia’s war with Ukraine and tensions with the United States could shut down communications and prevent any common ground for negotiations. During meetings with administration officials last year – including the Justice Ministry, which prosecuted Yaroshenko – the couple voiced support for an exchange, but said it did not lead them to believe it was a viable option. “They did not say, ‘Oh, we agree with you, that’s very good. That’s a good point, “Paula Reed told the Associated Press in February. “It simply came to our notice then. They just said, “We are listening to you. Thank you very much.’” But weeks after the war, the couple did something that caught the White House’s attention. As Biden traveled to Texas to support the veterans, the Reeds stood along the motorcade route, hoping to meet a real person with the president. This did not happen, although he spoke to the couple by phone. Later that month, they arrived in Washington and held up signs near the White House, hoping to meet with the president again. This time, they were invited to the Oval Office for a meeting with Biden and other government officials. The White House issued a statement that night reiterating its commitment to take Reed and Whelan home, a topic raised by senior officials in private meetings with Russian leaders. The meeting was a rare presidential access for an American prisoner’s family, especially since Biden himself was less public than his predecessor, Donald Trump, about efforts to get Americans home. In the background, however, Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken were at loggerheads with the Russians, and Roger Carstens, the president’s special envoy for hostage-taking, was also working on the issue. Reed’s health hovers in the background. In March, Reed told his parents that he was bleeding several times a day, had lung pain and had broken ribs. Last year it was infected by COVID-19. Even on Wednesday, his parents were amazed at how thin their son looked during the video of the transfer. They said they expected him to need medical attention before resuming his daily life in Texas. Paula Reed told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Trevor had taken a test and his sister Taylor said “his spirit is bright.” “He tells stories,” he said. “She is flirting with the nursing staff. It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful to see that. “ His health problems also worried US officials. “This, I think, helped to really intensify the discussions on this issue, to get to a point where we were able to make this arrangement, to get to a point where we were able to turn to some of the logistics of simple integration.” , a senior administration official told reporters in a history briefing this week. Separately, a Yaroshenko’s lawyer said his client also suffered from multiple health problems and had previously tried unsuccessfully to get him out of jail early for compassionate release due to the pandemic. Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence for spy charges his family says were fabricated, and Brittney Griner, a WNBA star arrested in February after Russian authorities said the investigation in her bag she revealed cannabis. derivative. The Whelan family said in a statement that they were happy for Reed’s release but concerned that their loved one was not part of it. “Paul has already spent three and a quarter years as a Russian hostage,” the statement said. “Is President Biden’s failure to bring Paul home an admission that some cases are too difficult to resolve? Is it the piecemeal approach of the Management to pick low fruits? ». Richardson, who has helped facilitate the multiple release of American detainees and hostages in recent years, said the Biden group deserves recognition for approving this particular exchange at a time when US-Russian relations were so strained. “It does not matter who gets the credit,” Richardson said, “as long as there are hostages in the house like Trevor Reed.”
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