The President of the United States of America (US) Joe Biden returned on Tuesday to condemn the arrest in Russia of an American journalist charged with espionage, saying the Kremlin “crossed all borders”.
The arrest of Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, was announced on March 30 by Russian security services.
Last Thursday, Gershkovich was formally charged with espionage, an accusation the reporter and his newspaper categorically deny. Authorities accuse him of collecting information about the Russian defense industry.
“This detention is completely illegal,” the US president said, adding that he tried unsuccessfully to contact the reporter’s family on Monday.
In the same statements, made before traveling to Belfast, where he will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement in Northern Ireland, Biden assured that he will continue efforts to resolve this issue in the coming hours.
On Monday, the US State Department said Gershkovich had been “arbitrarily detained by Russia”, and assured it would assign the lead of this process to special envoy for hostages, Roger Carsten.
Source: DN
