Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that today’s exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States of America (USA), which was coordinated by Turkey, was the result of cooperation between the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
“This work, which was carried out through the FSB and the CIA, required very challenging negotiations and the involvement of numerous countries in establishing intricate agreements,” he said at a press conference in Moscow.
He thanked President Vladimir Putin for taking a firm stand, insisting on a prisoner exchange instead of extraditing the Americans as a “gesture of goodwill.”
“This firm stance has finally yielded results, and our people have returned to their homeland,” Peskov said.
He also acknowledged the role of Belarus, especially President Alexander Lukashenko, in facilitating the exchange.
“We greatly appreciate the cooperation with the Belarusian KGB, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the personal help of President Lukashenko,” he said.
“It is crucial to recognize the efforts of those who, after going through difficult trials, managed to return home thanks to the efforts of many,” he added.
He declined to comment on future potential exchanges, including negotiations involving journalist Ivan Safronov and sociologist Boris Kagarlicki, who are serving sentences for working for foreign intelligence services.
With the coordination of the National Intelligence Service of Turkey (MIT), an exchange of prisoners was carried out in Ankara yesterday, which is considered the largest international exchange of its kind since the Second World War.
Then ten of those people, including two minors, were sent to Russia, 13 people were sent to Germany, and three people were sent to the USA.
The process of exchanging these 26 persons from prisons in the USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus began after Germany and Russia asked the Republic of Turkey to help them in this, AA writes.
