Russia, US swap prisoners in push for closer ties

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WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday exchanged sanctions for a Russian -administered ballet dancer, with President Donald Trump pressing the second exchange to rebuild Moscow and Washington relations.

Moscow has once issued a ballet dancer based in Los Angeles under a timely donation to a supporter of the Ukrainian charity on charges of “treason” in Russia. Casinia Kareenina has a dual American Russian nationality.

Washington released Arthur Petrov, a Russian German citizen, alleged to illegally export US -made electronics to manufacturers supplying Russian military. The exchange took place at a Abu Dhabi airport, where a dozen people were wearing a suit, a video posted by Russia’s FSB Security Service said.

Russia has tried to resolve relations with Moscow since the Cold War three years ago, after the Cold War, after the Cold War, to its lowest position, Since taking office. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on the social media platform X, “American Casia Kareena is on the plane returning to the United States.”

“Russia had wrongly detained him for a year.” Rubio added that Trump “will continue to work to release all Americans.” The FSB video shows that after his liberation, Petro was sitting on the plane, and told an unseen interviewer that he had not slept for two days but otherwise there was no complaint.

Petrov, who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 and handed over to the United States, has been facing 20 years in US prison for violating export controls. The CIA said that CIA Director John Wright was a key negotiator for Cliff Sweep, working with Russian intelligence and foreign partners.

In a statement, Rut Cliff thanked the United Arab Emirates for “activation of this exchange.” “Although we are disappointed that other Americans in Russia are wrong, we see this exchange as a positive step and will continue to work to release them,” said a CIA spokesperson.

When asked about the transfer at a daily briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment. Russian and US officials held several meetings after Trump took office in January.

When the prisoner was exchanged, a delegation of both sides discussed the rehabilitation of the embassy staff after the evacuation of diplomats in Istanbul. The State Department said after the meeting that Washington has renewed concerns about the rules that prohibit local staff from working for US missions in Russia.

The Foreign Ministry said that despite US sanctions on Russia, the two sides also moved to their diplomats to formulate a banking access agreement for their diplomats. Kareena, 33, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for donating $ 50 to a supporter of Ukraine.

He was arrested in January 2024 in the Russian city of Ectanburg while he was on a journey to meet his family and was accused of “treason”. Russia’s Federal Security Service accused it of accusing them of raising funds for the Ukrainian army, buying “equipment, weapons and ammunition”. His supporters say he donated to a US -based organization that provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Petrov was accused by US officials of illegally exporting electronic components to Russia for violating Washington’s sanctions against Moscow over Moscow’s sanctions against Moscow.

In mid -February, after a call between Putin and Trump, Russia released a 28 -year -old American citizen, Calob van Bayerus, who was arrested for transporting cannabis sweets at a Moscow airport. Washington and Moscow also exchanged US teachers Mark Fogle for Russian computer expert Alexander Wink in early February.

After the end of the Cold War on August 1, 2024, Russia’s largest prisoner, including the release of journalists, included WSJ reporter Ivan Grushkovich, and alleged Russian spies in the West in exchange for differences in Russia. There are several US nationals in Russia. Washington has accused Moscow of using them as a bargain to secure the release of Russians in the United States.