Turkish mediation made final week’s prisoner change doable, Hakan Fidan has stated
Ankara’s mediation within the prisoner change between Moscow and Washington exhibits that Türkiye is trusted by each powers, Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan has stated.
The August 1 swap was the biggest because the Chilly Warfare. It noticed eight Russian nationals beforehand held captive within the West return residence, in change for 16 people, together with two convicted American spies.
“The change operation that befell in Ankara, as we will see, proves that each the US and Russia take into account Türkiye a companion that may be trusted,” Fidan stated on Monday in Cairo, at a joint press convention together with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty.
“The Turkish Nationwide Intelligence Group (MIT) coordinated the operation with its American and Russian colleagues from the very starting,” added Fidan.
Washington has referred to as the change “a feat of diplomacy” and thanked the Turkish authorities for making it doable. The US additionally thanked Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway for giving up imprisoned Russians for the swap.
President Vladimir Putin personally greeted the airplane with the returning Russians at Moscow’s Vnukovo-2 airport. On the prime of the record was Vadim Krasikov, an intelligence operative convicted in Germany of assassinating a Chechen separatist wished in Russia for struggle crimes.
In the meantime, the US secured the discharge of Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, RFE/RL worker Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, amongst others. Kara-Murza is a twin citizen of Russia and the UK who additionally has an American inexperienced card.
All the people Russia despatched to the West acquired pardons as a part of the change.
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