Paul Whelan, an American who has been detained in Russia for nearly five years, asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a phone call in August not to leave him behind again.
“I told him point blank that leaving me here the first time painted a target on my back and leaving me here the second time basically signed a death warrant,” Whelan told CNN during a Friday phone call from his prison camp in Mordovia.
The 53-year-old former Marine said he also told the top U.S. diplomat that “unless they got me back, it could be quite challenging in the future, especially with my age and the sort of work we have to do from a health and safety point of view.”
Last year, the Biden administration negotiated two known prisoner exchanges that freed wrongfully detained Americans Trevor Reed and WNBA player Brittney Griner.
U.S. officials have said that Whelan wasn’t included in those exchanges because the Russians refused. Whelan told CNN that he knows Moscow is seeking the release of former Russian Col. Vadim Krasikov, who reportedly received a life sentence in Germany for murder.
In his conversation with CNN, Whelan expressed confidence that the Biden administration was working to secure his release but said he was frustrated by the slow pace and wanted to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
Describing Blinken as “a person who obviously cares and … cares deeply about the situation,” Whelan said that during the August call, the secretary “told me that he’s working quite diligently, and his team is working quite diligently, to find a resolution to this situation.”
“I think everyone’s trying to do the right thing, and I know that this will come to an end at some point,” he said. “How long it will take I don’t know. But I’m being promised that I won’t be left behind here.”
Whelan — who also holds Irish, British, and Canadian citizenship — was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 on an espionage charge. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has been designated as wrongfully detained by the State Department.
“Secretary Blinken remains committed to bringing Paul home,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN on Monday. “The United States has been clear that Russia’s wrongful detention of Paul Whelan is outrageous, and he should be immediately set free.
“We offered Russia a serious proposal for Paul’s release and will not stop working on his case until he is reunited with his family,” the spokesperson said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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