WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2020) There has been some progress in the negotiations on a possible exchange of Russian nationals imprisoned in the United States, Victor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, for US citizen Paul Whelan, defense attorney Alexey Tarasov told Sputnik.
"There are no headlines yet, but, yes, there is some progress. As far as I can see, that's true [negotiations are ongoing]," Tarasov said on Tuesday. "In any case, I think there is a good chance that Konstantin Yaroshenko and Victor Bout will see some changes in the near future."
Last week, a court in Moscow sentenced Whelan, who has US, UK, Canadian and Irish citizenship, to 16 years in prison for espionage. Soon after, Russian media reported, citing informed sources, that the Russian-US exchange scheme was currently being discussed by Moscow and Washington. If an exchange occurs, all prisoners would reportedly serve the remainder of their sentences in their native countries.
