Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is in dialogue with the United States on the issue of bringing home jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Putin spoke about Whelan and Gershkovich during his year-end press conference on Thursday. He said the Kremlin hopes to “find a solution,” even though “it’s not easy.” Whelan is a corporate security executive from Michigan who has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the U.S. government dispute. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was detained in March while on a reporting trip to Russia.
