Blinken seeks immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter in call with Lavrov

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the immediate release of a US journalist, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who Russia has accused of spying, during a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday, the US State Department said.

“Secretary Blinken conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a US citizen journalist. The Secretary called for his immediate release,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement that did not mention Gershkovich by name.

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 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it is up to court to decide about the future of The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was detained on espionage charges in Russia, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday after their telephone conversation.

"In light of the established evidence of the US national’s illegal activities, his future will be determined by court. The American embassy in Moscow was duly notified about his detention," the ministry said.

"In the context of the discussion of the issue of the detention of US national Gershkovich in Russia on suspicion of espionage, which was raised by the Secretary of State, Blinken’s attention was drawn to the necessity to respect the Russian authorities’ decision made in conformity with law and Russia’s international commitments," the ministry said. "Lavrov stressed that Gershkovich had been detained red-handed when he was receiving secret data and was collecting data constituting a state secret acting under the guise of a journalist’s status."

The Russian top diplomat also told his US counterparts that it is inadmissible to fan hysteria around the journalist’s arrest. "It was stressed that it is inadmissible for Washington officials and Western mass media to stir up hysteria with an obvious aim of giving a political overtone to this case," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, Lavrov and Blinken also touched upon several other bilateral matters.

The call was initiated by the US side.