Moscow, Russia | BAZZUP | Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, was the subject of a call from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday.
Lavrov stressed the importance of respecting the decision made by Russian authorities in accordance with Russian law and international responsibilities during the phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov expressed opposition to Western media and American officials’ efforts to politicize the legal dispute. Gershkovich “was caught red-handed trying to obtain classified information and collecting data constituting a state secret under the guise of a journalistic status,” the speaker said, adding that the court would decide the fate of the man.
Lavrov and Blinken also discussed some bilateral matters during their call, according to the statement. On Thursday, the Russian Federal Security Service revealed that it had arrested Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg for “spying for the American government” and that a criminal investigation had been started.
Today, I spoke with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to express our deep worry over Russia’s unjustifiable detention of a journalist who is a citizen of the United States. I demanded his release as well as the release of Paul Whelan, a US citizen who was unjustly detained.
