Zakharova: Blinken did not talk to Lavrov about Whelan, all statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter are false

MOSCOW, March 3 – RIA Novosti. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken did not bring up the issue of Paul Whelan, who was convicted in the Russian Federation, during his brief meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New Delhi. reported Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Earlier, Blinken talked about the details of a brief meeting with Lavrov on the sidelines of G20 ministers in India. He specifically called on Russia to return to the implementation of the START Treaty and raised the issue of American Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage in the Russian Federation, and urged Russia to stop the special operation. and start a diplomatic dialogue.

Whelan was detained in Moscow on December 28, 2018, when the FSB reported that there was a spy operation. The defense claims that the American was the victim of a provocation: he was given a flash card, which allegedly expected to see a photo from a tourist trip to Sergiev Posad. In his last word, the accused declared that he did not spy. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison and sent to a colony in Mordovia to serve his sentence.

Whelan and his family are awaiting his return to the US in a trade, but he was not included in Russian Viktor Bout’s trade to American basketball player Brittney Griner, which took place in early December.