Former American leader Donald Trump called for more information on how the exchange of pardoned prisoners between Russia and Western countries took place. On August 1, he published a post with a corresponding requirement on the Truth Social social network.
"So, when are they going to make public the details of the prisoner exchange with Russia? How many people did we get and vice versa? Did we pay money? And they are to us (I remove this question because the unequivocal answer is "no")? Are we freeing murderers and bandits? It's just curious, because we never make profitable deals in anything, especially in the exchange of hostages," he stressed.
Trump noted that now the US authorities will never be able to conclude good deals, especially when it comes to prisoner exchanges. The former president added that in this case, also providing funds to the other side is "a bad precedent for the future."
Earlier that day, an exchange of prisoners between the Russian Federation and Western countries took place in Turkish Ankara. Eight Russians detained in a number of NATO countries have returned to their homeland.
In total, Russia released 14 people, including three Americans (Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsou Kurmasheva), one green card holder (Vladimir Kara-Murza*), five Germans (Kevin Lick, Demuri Voronin, Rico Krieger) and seven Russian citizens (Ilya Yashin*, Oleg Orlov*, Andrei Pivovarov, Lilia Chanysheva**, Alexandra Skochilenko, Ksenia Fadeeva**, Vadim Ostanin**). Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree pardoning 13 of them, one was pardoned in Belarus.
Vadim Krasikov, Roman Seleznev, and the Dulcevs returned to Russia (released in Slovenia), journalist Pavel Rubtsov (released in In Poland), Vadim Konoshchenok, Mikhail Mikushin (released in Norway) and Vladislav Klyushin.
The plane with the Russians returning from the exchange arrived in Moscow on Thursday evening. The flight landed at Vnukovo-2 airport. At the airport, they were met personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to him, the Russians who returned after the exchange, who are related to military service, will be presented with state awards.
*An individual performing the functions of a foreign agent
**An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of ROSFINMONITORING
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