Says America Threatens To Release Reporters, Russia: Maybe It's Time To Reduce US Journalists
Russian Ambassador to the United States said Washington had threatened retaliation after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges, and said it might be time to reduce the number of US journalists in Russia.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 30 it had detained Gershkovich in the city of Ural Yekaterinburg, opening cases of espionage against him for gathering what he said was a state secret about the military industry complex.
Gershkovich, the first US journalist to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, also the Wall Street Journal denied he was involved in espionage.
The United States is known to urge Russia to release Gershkovich, considering Russia's espionage claims to be ridiculous. US President Joe Biden has called for Gershkovich's release.
"America has threatened us with retaliatory measures if we don't release Gershkovich in the near future," Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov told Russia's First Channel state television.
"We will see how they will act," he continued.
Antonov said he had had a "very rude" conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, accusing Russia of illegally detaining Gershkovich. Antonov said Nuland repeatedly interfered with it in a counterproductive manner.
The Russian ambassador said it might be time to reduce the number of American journalists working in Russia.
"Americans have very good words - reciprocal - which they always emphasize," Antonov said at the Bolshaya Igra event.
"Maybe it's time for us to show reciprocity and reduce the number of American journalists working in Moscow and Russia as a whole to the number (Russian journalists) working in Washington and New York," said Antonov.
Earlier, the Kremlin said Gershkovich had carried out espionage "behind the guise" of journalism. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the United States that Gershkovich was caught trying to get secrets.
This week, the United States on Monday ruled Russia had "wrongly detained" Gershkovich, effectively saying that the espionage allegations were false and the cases were political.
Many US journalists left Russia after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine last year, and many more have left since the detention of Gershkovich. Meanwhile, the United States has repeatedly told its citizens to leave Russia due to war in Ukraine, as well as the risk of arbitrary arrests or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.