2023-05-09 10:55:00
Moscow studies US request for consular access to detained Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, according to Russian media
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said Russia is considering a US request for consular access to detained Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, Russian state news agency Ria Novosti reported on Tuesday.
“All requests for consular visits to Gershkovich are considered by the competent Russian services,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
RIA Novosti adds that Moscow has only seen “pressure attempts and threats from Washington on the issue.”
The US State Department has yet to comment.
Some background: Gershkovich, a US citizen, was arrested in Russia in March on charges of espionage, in a show of the Kremlin’s crackdown on foreign media since it invaded Ukraine last year.
The Wall Street Journal vehemently denied the spying allegations once morest Gershkovich.
Gerschkovich is currently remanded in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29. Last month he appeared before the Moscow City Court – where he was photographed standing in a glass cage – to ask that his pre-trial detention be under house arrest instead of prison. His appeal was denied.
US State Department senior deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said last month that Washington was “deeply disappointed” that Moscow had turned down his request to visit Gershkovich.
Moscow’s initial rejection was in retaliation for Washington not granting visas to Russian journalists from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s group when they visited the United Nations in April.
1683632792
#Latestminute #live #news #Russias #war #Ukraine
