Trump Concerns Led Russia to Fast-Track Prisoner Exchange

(LibertySociety.com) – In an exhaustive piece chronicling the negotiations with Russia that led to the release of its reporter Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the German negotiating team, led by BND Deputy Chief Philipp Wolff finally gained an opening after months of failed efforts when Russian negotiators suggested that the prisoner exchange wrap up before the November presidential election in the US.

Germany played a key role in the long-running negotiations with Moscow that led to the release of 16 German, American, and Russian detainees, including Gershkovich in exchange for the release of FSB assassin Vadim Krasikov who was serving a life sentence in Germany for shooting a Chechen exile in Berlin in 2019.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defied his country’s security establishment, diplomats, ministers, and government lawyers who opposed Krasikov’s release over fears of the precedent it would set.

Conservative lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter warned that Krasikov’s release would empower Russia to continue terrorizing the West through its hostage diplomacy.

Germany’s efforts at a prisoner swap hit a snag with the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February.

But as the US presidential election neared, Russian negotiators urged for a quick resolution.

Some German officials suggested that Moscow was concerned that either a Donald Trump victory could make the US more unpredictable or they feared that Chancellor Scholz would be less inclined to work with the US if Donald Trump was president, given Trump’s history of criticizing Germany.

Either way, the German negotiating team exploited the Kremlin’s concerns to fast-track the talks.

Gerhkovich was released last Thursday, along with former US Marine Paul Whelan, a German national, 11 Russian political prisoners, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Vladimir Kara-Murza.

The Wall Street Journal reporter was jailed last year on charges of espionage and was convicted last month. Whelan was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges and was serving a 16-year sentence of hard labor at the time he was released.