White House National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby addressed criticism over the release of Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov for three Americans and other political dissidents held by Russia.
Former Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva were released Thursday in a multi-nation prisoner swap in what's being called the biggest prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia since the Cold War.
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Krasikov, who was convicted of a 2019 murder, was freed by Germany in the prisoner swap and was seen embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow after returning home.
Baier, citing Newsweek, noted criticism that the prisoner exchange has been "hailed as a ‘success’ for Vladimir Putin."
Kirby told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier on "Special Report" the decision to release Krasikov took "a lot of moral courage" from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"Nobody's delighted or doing backflips over here because Mr. Krasikov is now a free man. That's what negotiations are all about. They require tough decisions, tough calls. The president was willing to make that tough call in order to get these — all these individuals, not just the Americans, all of them — released," he said.
"In the end, when you weigh it, yes — these are all criminals on the Russian side, and yes, they're all innocents on the West side, but in the balance, I think we could all agree that it's better to have innocent people no longer rotting in Russian prisons for the rest of their lives — and I think, on balance, that's what it came down to."
Kirby said it isn’t new for Putin and Russia to "wrongfully" detain Americans to use as bargaining chips down the road.
"It's not a behavior that we think is going to change anytime soon, which is why we urge Americans not to travel to Russia," he said. "There's a strong detention risk there. Don't go — and if you're there now, you ought to be making your way out."
Gershkovich, Whelan and Kurmasheva are set to land at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland late Thursday night.
Kirby said the White House is also working to secure the release of American teacher Marc Fogel, who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony for possessing medical marijuana.
"There are ongoing conversations right now, in discussions with the Russians, to see what we can do, to try to get Mr. Fogel home," he told Baier. "We will keep at it."
"We're going to do everything we can to get every wrongfully detained American back home or any American wrongfully detained or not that is being held overseas unlawfully."
