Russia will always seek to assist its citizens detained abroad, President Vladimir Putin said in Vladivostok on Thursday, following a major prisoner exchange with Western countries last month.
Putin was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in the city in the Russian Far East. He was responding to a question about whether Russians held in the US could be returned to Russia.
“We treat all Russian citizens the same, when they need the assistance of the state. And we will continue to do so in the future,” he said.
Following months of talks behind closed doors, 26 people were exchanged on August 1.
Russia and its ally Belarus released 16 prisoners, eight of them political prisoners. Among those released was Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Germany released Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing of a Chechen from Georgia who was living in exile in Berlin. Other countries involved in the swap were Poland, Slovenia, and Norway.
