Marine Trevor Reed, was released from Russian custody as part of a prisoner swap
President Joe Biden said Wednesday morning that former Marine Trevor Reed, who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than two years, has been released in a prisoner exchange.
“The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly. His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad,” As Biden stated in a statement,
Reed and his Russian girlfriend went to Russia for the summer of 2019 to study the language. In August of that year, he was arrested for drunkenness and taken to a Russian prison. He was looking at a nine-year jail term.
The Americans exchanged Reed’s freedom for the release of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was serving a lengthy sentence in the United States on cocaine-trafficking charges.
With Russia and other former Soviet countries, the U.S. government has engaged in the diplomatic dance of prisoner swaps for decades. This exchange comes at a time when relations between Russia and Ukraine are at their most tense since the Cold War.
GOP lawmakers in Texas have slammed Biden for his lack of communication with the Reed family. State senators were unanimous in their admiration for Biden on Wednesday.
John Cornyn of Texas stated in a statement: “Trevor has experienced a real-life horror, being imprisoned in a Russian jail for almost 1000 days without access to desperately needed medical care or connection with his family. “I can’t express how happy I am that Trevor is going to be reunited with his family in Texas, who fought tirelessly for his release and never gave up hope.
Congressmen Pfluger and McCaul, as well as the President and the State Department personnel who fought behind the scenes to obtain Trevor’s release, deserve credit for their efforts, he said.
Representative August Pfluger, who represents Reed’s family, and Representative Michael McCaul—the leading Republican on foreign affairs issues—were in charge of bringing Reed home from Afghanistan.’
The Russian authorities have freed my constituent Trevor Reed, who was imprisoned for 985 days as a pawn for the Kremlin.” “He remarked on Wednesday. “In their efforts to secure the release of their son, Paula and Joey Reed have been relentless. I can’t even fathom how happy they must be.
He went on to say, “We won’t stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends.
Whelan, a native of Michigan, was captured in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 17 years in prison for spying. After being convicted of theft, Whelan served in the Marines, but was released due to his poor behaviour. According to him and his family, the authorities put him up as a tourist.