Turkish mediation made final week’s prisoner trade doable, Hakan Fidan has mentioned
Ankara’s mediation within the prisoner trade between Moscow and Washington exhibits that Türkiye is trusted by each powers, Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan has mentioned.
The August 1 swap was the most important because the Chilly Conflict. It noticed eight Russian nationals beforehand held captive within the West return dwelling, in trade for 16 people, together with two convicted American spies.
“The trade operation that occurred in Ankara, as we are able to see, proves that each the US and Russia contemplate Türkiye a companion that may be trusted,” Fidan mentioned on Monday in Cairo, at a joint press convention together with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty.
“The Turkish Nationwide Intelligence Group (MIT) coordinated the operation with its American and Russian colleagues from the very starting,” added Fidan.
Washington has referred to as the trade “a feat of diplomacy” and thanked the Turkish authorities for making it doable. The US additionally thanked Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway for giving up imprisoned Russians for the swap.
President Vladimir Putin personally greeted the airplane with the returning Russians at Moscow’s Vnukovo-2 airport. On the prime of the listing was Vadim Krasikov, an intelligence operative convicted in Germany of assassinating a Chechen separatist wished in Russia for battle crimes.
In the meantime, the US secured the discharge of Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, RFE/RL worker Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, amongst others. Kara-Murza is a twin citizen of Russia and the UK who additionally has an American inexperienced card.
All the people Russia despatched to the West obtained pardons as a part of the trade.
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