USA: Mixed Reaction to Prisoner Exchange with Russia

For outgoing US President Joe Biden, the release of prisoners held in Russia is a success that shows how important it is to have allies. During a White House press conference, Biden emphasized that it was “an agreement, the result of diplomacy and friendship that not all countries can achieve.”

On the other hand, former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized the agreement, which led to a prisoner exchange between the USA and Russia with the support of five allied countries. “We’ve never had a good deal,” Trump said of the talks, noting that US negotiators “always cause trouble.” In addition, the former president expressed doubts about the conditions of the hostages’ release: “Are we paying them? Are they paying us? In fact, retract that last question because I’m pretty sure the answer is no,” Trump wrote in his Truth social media post.

The response immediately came from Trump’s predecessor, former Democratic President Barack Obama, who said the release of US prisoners was a huge diplomatic victory. As Obama wrote on X social network (formerly Twitter), “thanks to the skill and perseverance of the President and Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris and our allies, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza have been freed. This is a huge diplomatic victory, and we are grateful that they are going home to their families,” Obama wrote on X.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, welcomed the detainees released as part of the exchange at Moscow’s Vnukovo-2 VIP airport and Andrews Air Force Base, respectively.