Several Americans are released from Russia in a prisoner swap. Donald Trump reacts – with congratulations for the other side.
Former US President Donald Trump has congratulated Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on the recent prisoner exchange with the West. “I want to congratulate Vladimir Putin on making another great deal,” said the Republican presidential candidate at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia. The agreement resulted in the release of some of the world’s worst killers. “We got our people back,” said Trump, but at the same time complained that the US was making “terrible” deals. The agreement sets a bad precedent.
Even during his term in office, Americans imprisoned abroad were released, Trump continued, stressing: “I never paid anything.” The Republican had previously bad-mouthed the latest deal with Russia and implied, without any evidence, that money had been paid for the prisoner exchange.
Trump is said to be close to Putin
In an unprecedented prisoner exchange on Thursday, Russia and Belarus released 16 people who had been imprisoned for their activities as journalists, artists, opposition members or activists, among other things. In return, ten people were handed over to Moscow from prison in various countries – including the convicted “Tiergarten murderer” Vadim Krassikow, who was imprisoned in Germany. The US government had pushed the exchange forward with the help of several other countries in order to release US citizens Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, among others, from Russian custody.
Trump is said to have some closeness to Putin. During his time in office, the Republican was repeatedly accused of courting the Kremlin chief. Among other things, at a summit with Putin in Helsinki in 2018, Trump questioned the findings of American intelligence services about Russian interference in the US elections. This sparked great outrage in the USA at the time.
