Trump applauds Putin on prisoner`s swap excellent agreement
(MENAFN) Former President Donald trump has publicly criticized President Joe Biden’s recent prisoner exchange deal with Russia, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged with a more favorable outcome from the agreement. This deal, announced earlier this week, represents the largest prisoner swap between the United States and Russia since the Cold War.
Under the terms of the exchange, a total of 26 prisoners were swapped between the United States and Russia. The deal saw Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and former United States Marine Paul Whelan—both of whom had been convicted of espionage in Russia—released and sent to the West. They were joined by 14 other foreign agents, opposition activists, and criminals. In exchange, the United States released ten Russian nationals to Moscow. This group included alleged intelligence operatives and cybercriminals, with Vadim Krasikov—a former FSB agent convicted in Germany for the 2021 murder of a Chechen militant commander—being the most notable figure.
At a campaign rally in Georgia on Saturday, Trump expressed his disapproval of the deal, stating, “I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal.” He criticized the terms of the swap, suggesting that the United States had released some of the “greatest killers” and “most evil killers” in exchange for American detainees. Trump questioned whether the deal set a troubling precedent, despite acknowledging that it resulted in the return of United States citizens.
Before the swap took place, Trump had claimed that he alone had the ability to secure the release of Gershkovich. In a post on his Truth Social platform in May, he predicted that the Wall Street Journal reporter would be released “almost immediately after the election, but definitely before I assume office,” and asserted that the United States would not have to make any concessions for his return.
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