Aboard Air Force One: Tuesday, nearly two weeks after The Wall Street Journal writer from Moscow was arrested in Russia and accused of espionage, President Joseph Biden talked to Evan Gershkovich’s parents.
While en route to Belfast to begin a four-day visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland, Biden made the call. One day after the Biden administration officially announced the reporter had been “wrongfully imprisoned,” the call took place.
The designation strengthens the case for Gershkovich’s release to the US government and designates a specific State Department office to spearhead the effort.
On Tuesday, Biden once more denounced the journalist’s imprisonment before leaving Washington. The Wall Street Journal and the US administration have both angrily refuted the Russian claim that Gershkovich is a spy.
“We’re making it real clear that it’s totally illegal what’s happening, and we declared it so,” Biden said. “It changes the dynamic.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters after the call that Biden “felt it was really important to connect with Evan’s family, his parents,” She said that Gershkovich, 31, has been “top of mind” for the president.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the Russian government has yet to grant US consular access to Gershkovich.
“It’s not for lack of trying,” Kirby said, adding that the State Department has been seeking access “ever since the moment we found out that he was detained.”
Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, on 29 March. He is the first US correspondent since the Cold War to be detained for alleged spying.
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