International
Historic U.S.-Russia Prisoner Swap: WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich and Michigan Executive Paul Whelan now in U.S. Custody
On Thursday, the United States and Russia completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan. This multinational deal, which set free around two dozen individuals, was confirmed by officials in Turkey, where the exchange took place.
The Associated Press reports that the swap is the culmination of years of secretive back-channel negotiations between Washington and Moscow. Despite relations between the two nations being at their lowest since the Cold War following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both countries managed to reach this significant agreement.
This exchange is the latest in a series of prisoner swaps negotiated between Russia and the U.S. over the past two years. However, it stands out as the first to require significant concessions from other countries.
The release of the American detainees came at a steep price. Russia managed to secure the freedom of its nationals, convicted of serious crimes in the West, by trading them for journalists, dissidents, and other Westerners who had been convicted and sentenced under a highly politicized legal system on charges deemed bogus by the U.S. government.
The White House has not released detailed information about the specifics of the deal.
In a statement posted online, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President and CEO Stephen Capus acknowledged reports that journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who works for the broadcaster, would be released as part of the deal. Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, charges her family and employer have vehemently denied.
Capus expressed his relief and gratitude, stating, “We welcome the news of Alsu’s imminent release and are grateful to the American government and all who worked tirelessly to end her unjust treatment by Russia.”
This latest swap follows other significant exchanges over the past two years. In December 2022, WNBA star Brittney Griner was traded back to the U.S. in exchange for notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Earlier that year, Marine veteran Trevor Reed was swapped for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
As part of the swap, Russia secured the return of Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of murdering a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park in 2019, allegedly on orders from Moscow’s security services.
Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. Russian authorities accused him, without evidence, of gathering secret information for the U.S. Gershkovich, the son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times before joining the Wall Street Journal in 2022.
His detention involved numerous closed hearings regarding his pretrial detention extensions and appeals for his release. U.S. officials had made an offer for a swap last year, which was rejected by Russia, and no further public offers were made until now.
Paul Whelan, detained in December 2018 while attending a wedding in Russia, was convicted of espionage charges. Both Whelan and the U.S. have maintained that the charges were false. He is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence and had been excluded from previous high-profile deals.
Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic
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What would a new Trump administration mean for the Middle East? Expect the following:
Increased Pressure on Iran and its Proxies
Brian Hook, Trump’s former special envoy to Iran who is believed to be leading Trump’s transition team for the State Department, stated that the new Trump administration would seek to “…isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken them economically, so that they can’t fund all of the violence…” coming from Iran’s proxies, “…all of whom destabilize Israel and our Gulf partners.” This approach contrasts with the Biden-Harris administration, who engaged the Islamic Republic diplomatically and economically, and even removed the Houthis from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity list from February 2021 through January 2024. That being said, Hook also stated that the new Trump administration would have “no interest in regime change” in Iran, and that decisions about the future of Iran lies with its people.
The Trump administration may green light an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. GOP spokeswoman Elizabeth Pipko refused to say whether President-elect Trump would approve of Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, stating that Trump should speak for himself on this issue and will do so when he assumes office. However, Trump had stated in October that Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear sites. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration vocally opposed Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites or oil fields, and Israel’s attack plans were leaked to Iran through someone in the Biden-Harris administration’s Defense department.
Striving to End Wars in Lebanon and Gaza
According to Pipko, President-elect Trump wants Israel to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon quickly, decisively, and with victory. Pipko contrasted this approach with the Biden-Harris administration’s “back and forth” policy, and that the Biden-Harris administration was pressuring how Israel conducts war based on election considerations. The Biden-Harris administration was guilty of “armchair quarterbacking” Israel’s wars in an unproductive way, including by leaking Israel’s plans to strike Lebanon, opposing the Rafah invasion, and opposing the killing of several arch-terrorists.
Trump will also likely prioritize the release of the hostages; Trump recently threatened Hamas, stating that if they did not free its hostages before inauguration day, it will pay “a very big price.” In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has been spinning its wheels in endless failed diplomacy with Qatar, having not produced a hostage deal with Hamas since November 2023.
Pursuing a Conditional Peace with Palestinians
President-elect Donald Trump will likely re-visit his 2020 peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Brian Hook. Regarding the 2020 plan, Hook stated that “much of that work is still relevant today.”
On the issue of a Palestinian state, expect that the Trump administration won’t pursue a Palestinian state unconditionally for its own sake, as the Biden-Harris administration has. Hook conceded that Trump’s 2020 plan, which was endorsed by Israel and U.S.’ allies in the Gulf, “had a path to a two-state solution.” But Hook also recognized that Israelis are not focused on a Palestinian state now, and are instead focused on protecting themselves from terrorism in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Additionally, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas outright rejected the 2020 plan, and the plan also required the PA to provide security guarantees for Israel, recognize Israel, and allow Israeli citizens to remain in Judea and Samaria, all of which the PA did not agree to. If the new Trump administration seeks to revive this plan, it will likely revive these conditions for a Palestinian state as well. The PA will then in turn likely reject it a second time, proving again that the PA is not a partner for peace.
Expanding the Abraham Accords
President-elect Trump is also poised to expand the Abraham Accords. Trump brokered normalization deals between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Reportedly, the previous Trump administration was on the verge of expanding the Abraham Accords to Indonesia and Mauritania, but were prevented from doing so once the administration’s term expired. During the past Trump administration, Saudi Arabia had been trying to get Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords as well.
In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration failed to add any countries to the Abraham Accords. Most notably is the administration’s failure to clinch an Israel-Saudi Arabia deal after chilling US relations with Saudi Arabiaand insisting on a Palestinian state as an integral part of any deal. The Biden-Harris administration seems content with now pursuing a bilateral US-Saudi deal that ices out Israel, which would completely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords.
Jared Kushner has had multiple discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the issue of US-Israel-Saudi relations since President-elect Trump left office. So given past efforts, the new Trump administration could clinch Abraham Accords deals with Indonesia, Mauritania, Oman, and/or the big prize, Saudi Arabia.
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