China News Network, April 4 -- According to Agence France-Presse and RIA Novosti, on April 3, local time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was invited to hold a telephone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss issues such as the release of US citizens detained by Russia.
Infographic: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong
Agence France-Presse said Lavrov received a rare call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. During the call, Blinken demanded the immediate release of Evan Gerskovich, an American journalist who had been detained a few days ago, and Paul Whelan, another detained American citizen, calling their continued detention "unacceptable."
Lavrov said that the United States must respect Russia's relevant decisions in accordance with Russia's domestic laws and Russia's international obligations, and stressed that US officials and Western media should not try to add political overtones to the case of US journalists suspected of espionage.
Infographic: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov pointed out that Evan Gershkovich was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secret information, and the Russian side has officially notified the US Embassy in Russia of his arrest. The case will be decided by a Russian court.
As previously reported, the Russian Federal Security Service announced on March 3 that the Russian Federal Security Service arrested Evan Gerskovich, a reporter from the Moscow bureau of the Wall Street Journal, on suspicion of espionage. The Russian Federal Security Service said that this person collected state secret information on the activities of a Russian military-industrial complex in accordance with the instructions of the United States, and was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information.
Paul Whelan, a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps, was captured by the Russian Federal Security Service in Moscow in December 2018 and accused of espionage. Whelan denied the Russian identification, saying that he had come to Russia to attend a friend's wedding.