(NewsNation) — Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018, was mentioned during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s year-end television address.
Putin said Russia is in contact with the U.S. about possibly swapping prisoners, but any agreement “must suit both parties.”
“We have contacts with our American partners on this matter; the dialog on this matter is ongoing,” Putin said. “We want to reach an agreement, and these agreements must be mutually acceptable and must suit both parties.”
David Whelan, brother of Paul Whelan, joined “On Balance With Leland Vittert” to discuss Putin’s latest claim, saying, “When I heard the news, I didn’t really hear anything new.”
“Putin and President Biden had initiated a channel for exchanges back in 2021,” David Whelan said. “And that channel has worked twice now; it has brought home Brittney Griner. It’s brought home Trevor Reed, and it has failed a couple of times. The Russians either ignored or rejected two or three different offers.
Putin said he hoped to find a solution, saying, “It’s not easy.”
David Whelan said, “It was nice to hear the president say that they are open to a resolution. Sometimes we wonder, based on their not necessarily good-faith activity relating to the exchanges, but I don’t think it indicates that there’s any particular change in Paul’s situation.”
Putin’s claim comes after Russia earlier this month rejected the Biden administration’s offer aimed at securing the release of Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since March.
Whelan has lost hope he will ever return home or that new Russian leadership would perhaps change his circumstances, he said in a recent statement obtained by NewsNation.
“My parents are quite elderly, and I have given up hope of seeing them again. Friends have moved on, relatives have passed away. The Russians have ruined my life. One that is destined to end in a slave labor camp, fraught with intolerable conditions for no reason other than a hatred of human rights and freedoms,” he wrote from prison.
David Whelan said this setback returns his family to the starting point.
Whelan’s family also said they are concerned about his safety after he was attacked by a prisoner last month. They feel this attack has potentially put a new target on his back for future assaults.