Press
Trump claims that Putin would release the imprisoned US reporter Gershkovich as a favor after his victory in the presidential election. Moscow sees things differently.
Washington, DC/Moscow – Former US President Donald Trump is certain: In case of his victory in the presidential election, Wladimir Putin release imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as a personal favor to him.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday (May 23), Trump wrote: “He will be home, safe and with his family. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, will do this for me, but no one else, and we will not pay anything.” Moscow, however, denies having any contact with Trump.
Arrested on research trip: Gershkovich is accused of espionage
By saying that the US would not pay anything for the prisoner exchange, Trump is playing The Guardian on President Joe Biden’s deal last year to bring Americans back from Iran, which included the transfer of Iranian oil revenues frozen by South Korea.
The Wall Street Journal’s Russia correspondent was arrested in late March 2023 on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg. According to the newspaper, he is being held in the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. The prosecutor’s office accuses him of collecting state secrets about the activities of a Russian arms company “on the instructions of the American side”. Gershkovich and his employer deny the espionage allegations. The US government said Gershkovich was being held unjustly. Most recently, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin publicly signaled that he was willing to exchange Gershkovich for Russians imprisoned in the West.
Kremlin denies contact: Putin wants Biden as US president
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state news agency Cupthat “Putin has no contacts with Donald Trump”. “What the [US-amerikanisch-russischen] As for contacts with detained and convicted persons, we can say that these contacts must take place in absolute secrecy,” Peskov continued. “This is the only way they can be effective.”
Why Trump assumes that Putin would do him this favor is unclear. But the fact is that in February Putin claimed that he would prefer Biden in the November election because the incumbent president is “more experienced, predictable [und] an old-school politician.” Trump called the non-support “a compliment,” reports Newsweek.
Former US ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is also certain: Trump does not admire the Russian president and only “publicly compliments” Putin to please his base.
Former US ambassador is certain: Trump praises Putin only out of strategy
Sondland, who was fired by Trump after months of testifying as a key witness in his first impeachment trial, recalled in a Foreign Policy published interview that the former president had openly told him that the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un would “stab him in the stomach if he had the chance”.
The former ambassador suggested that Trump secretly takes the same stance toward all authoritarian leaders in the world, including Putin, although he sometimes publicly praises international “strongmen.”
“[Trump] doesn’t like Putin at all. Not at all,” Sondland said. “And although he praises Putin publicly, he does so because it is a contrary strategy,” quoted Newsweek.
Trump’s behavior causes criticism: US foreign interests suffer from flattery
The former president’s relationship with Putin was the subject of speculation shortly after the start of his political career. Democrats and other Trump critics frequently accused him of currying favor with the Russian ruler to the detriment of U.S. foreign interests.
Trump has repeatedly said he has the ability to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within “24 hours” by using his negotiating skills – a claim both Russian and Ukrainian officials have rejected. (bg)