The Kremlin has denied reports of an exchange of sanctions for political prisoners

Information has spread online that the United States will ease sanctions against Russia in exchange for political prisoners. The relevant data was presented in an article by The Atlantic, after which they were disseminated by some media outlets and groups on social networks.

The article stated that US President Donald Trump agreed to the idea of ​​his special envoy John Cole to Eastern Europe to ease anti-Russian sanctions in exchange for Russia's release of some prisoners. Cole allegedly compiled a list of Americans held in Russian prisons, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation), with whom he communicated, compiled a list of convicted Russians who opposed Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.

The relevant data was denied by the Kremlin. As stated by the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Russia has not discussed with the United States the easing of anti-Russian sanctions. He also emphasized that there are no political prisoners in Russia. “In such a formulation, this topic was not discussed and could not be discussed, because we categorically deny the existence of any political prisoners and believe that such a formulation of the issue is absolutely inappropriate,” he said.

At the same time, Peskov clarified that the intelligence services of the Russian Federation and the United States maintain contact on the issue of prisoner exchanges. “With regard to the various exchanges that took place before, our special services continue regular contacts in this regard,” he added.

Trump himself has not yet commented on The Atlantic’s material on his social networks.

Data from The Atlantic material was distributed in the Russian media. Izvestia, Business Online, Tsargrad and others wrote about this.