Russia refused to include in exchange of prisoners American citizen Paul Willian, since the United States could not agree on the liberation of the Russian spy Vadim Krasikov. Now the former Russian colonel is serving a life sentence in Germany for the murder. It is reported by CNN with reference to officials.
In August, Washington invited Moscow to exchange Russian Viktor But for the Americans Britney Grainer and Paul Wylan. Then Russia demanded to include Krasikov’s exchange list, CNN notes.
US officials secretly requested Germany about the possibility of including Krasikov in a deal, the channel wrote earlier with reference to a senior source in the German government. But the United States could not achieve the liberation of Krasikov. According to the interlocutor of the publication in Germany, Berlin does not want to seriously consider the possibility of liberation of Krasikov.
In 2019, the former Russian Colonel Krasikov killed in Berlin a participant in the Second Chechen War Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, shooting him from a pistol.
In a conversation with CNN, Wylan said that the decision of the American authorities disappointed him. The United States could not exchange Wylan, because Russia treats him “otherwise than Grainer,” President Biden explained, emphasizing that Washington did not forget about Willn and continue negotiations with Russia.
The United States proposed to Russia several more prisoners in exchange for Willn, CNN notes. Among them, Alexander Vinnik, a Russian citizen extradited in the USA in August on charges of laundering money, hacking and extortion. The United States also offered to exchange the novel by Seleznev, Cybercriminal, who is currently serving a 14-year term in the United States, writes the newspaper.