Paul Whelan's Brother Says Unsure Whether Biden-Putin Meeting Would Lead to Release
The family of US citizen and ex-marine Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage in Russia, would welcome the discussion of his case during the upcoming Russia-US summit, but doubts it will happen, his brother David Whelan told Sputnik
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2021) The family of US citizen and ex-marine Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage in Russia, would welcome the discussion of his case during the upcoming Russia-US summit, but doubts it will happen, his brother David Whelan told Sputnik.
"Obviously, I would welcome any discussion of Paul's case if it will lead to his freedom but it is hard to know whether a discussion of Russian convicts in the United States and Americans held in Russia would include Paul's wrongful detention," David Whelan said.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not rule out on Monday that Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden could touch upon Russians convicted in the US and Americans convicted in Russia at their meeting, scheduled for June 16.
David Whelan noted that he saw Peskov's comments.
"Perhaps someone will ask President Putin and President Biden at any media availability at the summit for details about what prisoners and how their imprisonment might be resolved," he said.
Whelan, who is also a citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom, was arrested in Russia in December 2018. A Moscow court sentenced him to a 16-year prison term for espionage last June. Whelan, however, has denied the charges and insisted that he came to Russia for a friend's wedding. Court papers have revealed that he had frequented Russia since 2007.