Background Press Call on Today’s Multilateral Prisoner Exchange

Via Teleconference

8:05 A.M. EDT

MS. WATERS: Morning, everybody. I'm just going to give folks another minute to join.

All right, let's get started.

I just want to take a quick minute at the top here to discuss the ground rules. This call and its content are going to be held under a strict embargo until we notify the participants of the call that the individuals that we're going to discuss are in U.S. custody, are safe, and on the way back to the United States.

I anticipate, for planning purposes, that that will come no earlier than 11:00 a.m. this morning. We're still hours away from something taking place here.

One other note on the ground rules. I know that the invitation that went out said that this call is on background. The topper of this call, which will be delivered by National Security Advisor Sullivan, is quotable, it is on the record. And then the contents of the Q&A are going to be on background.

For awareness but not for reporting, the senior administration official who will do the Q&A is [senior administration official].

And with that, I will waste no time and I will hand it over to Jake.

MR. SULLIVAN: Good morning, everyone. This morning, the President is gathering the families of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza at the White House to share with them the news that an exchange is underway to secure the release of their loved ones from Russia.

As Kate just said, we expect that exchange will take place in the next few hours. And if successful - and I underscore "if" because nothing is done until it's done - Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir will at long last be reunited with their loved ones and be home safe.

All told, if successful, the exchange will result in the release of 16 individuals currently detained in Russia in exchange for 8 individuals held in the United States, Germany, Norway, Slovenia, and Poland.

Paul, Evan, and Alsu are American citizens. Vladimir is a green card holder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, as many of you know.

Five wrongfully detained German citizens and seven other Russian citizens, all political prisoners in their own country, will also be released and will leave Russia.

Today's exchange will be historic. Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way. And there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, so many close U.S. partners and allies working together. It's the culmination of many rounds of complex, painstaking negotiations over many, many months.

There are a few critical moments that led to today that I'd like to walk you all through.

To take a step back: Throughout this administration, President Biden has prioritized the safe return of all Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad. Since 2021, the President has brought home more than 70 such Americans from countries all around the world, including Afghanistan, Burma, Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, West Africa, and from other parts of the world in cases that we have quite deliberately kept discreet for particular reasons.

In the context of the war against Ukraine and the overall degradation of our relations with Russia, securing the release of Americans detained in Russia has been uniquely challenging. We've been working to secure Paul Whelan's release since we came into office. He was detained before we came into office. These efforts were obviously made more complicated and new challenges were presented to us with the arrest of Evan Gershkovich in March of 2023 and Alsu Kurmasheva in June of 2023.

It became clear that the Russians would not agree to the release of these individuals without an exchange that included Vadim Krasikov, a Russian criminal who was in German custody, not someone we could offer ourselves. That required extensive diplomatic engagement with our German counterparts, starting at the top with the President himself, who worked this issue directly with Chancellor Scholz. We are deeply grateful to Germany for their partnership.

Other nations were also critical to securing this deal. Norway, Slovenia, and Poland all had custody of additional Russians included in this exchange. President Biden and his team, including a lot of dedicated people at the NSC, the CIA, the State Department, engaged with all of these countries to get to the result we achieved today. We are deeply grateful for the partnership of Norway, Slovenia, and Poland. We also are deeply grateful to Turkey for providing the critical logistic support that has made this deal possible.

Ultimately, these allies, these partners, and the continued engagement that we had with them, and then the direct engagement we had with Russian officials, allowed us to piece together a package of 8 individuals of interest to Russia for the 16 individuals, including German nationals, Russian political prisoners, and U.S. citizens we hope and expect to see coming out of Russia today.

Over the course of the administration, there have also been countless engagements between U.S. government officials and these detained Americans directly, and their families, to check in on their wellbeing, to keep them updated on the status of their cases. And that started at the very top with the President, but also includes the efforts of many throughout the White House and at the State Department.

We're working hard to make today a very good day and one we can build on for all the others who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, or any American who finds themselves in this kind of distress anywhere. We have no higher priority.

And I will leave it at that and turn it over, as Kate said, to [senior administration official] to answer your questions. And in the meantime, I will be keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks, everybody.

MS. WATERS: Thanks. And with that, we'll open it up to questions. Our first question is going to go to Jenny Hansler with CNN.

Q Thanks so much for doing the call, guys. I have a number of questions. What was the impact of Navalny's death on these negotiations? How much did things slow down after that?

And can you describe a little bit what the linchpin was for Germany to finally agree to release Krasikov?

And then, if possible, can you just tell us the names of the people that Russia is getting back and getting released beyond the Americans? Thank you.

MS. WATERS: Jenny, on the full list of names, I'll disseminate that to everybody who's joining this call on background just so that I don't have to make [senior administration official] struggle through pronouncing a long list of names and save everybody a little time. So we'll send the full list of names around, of the 24.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Jenny, in terms of Navalny's death, as you know, just like you all, we learned about that when it happened, in mid-February of this year.

Later, the same day we learned, the 16th of February, Jake held a previously scheduled meeting he already had with Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich in his office. Jake has made it a priority, since even before the administration took office, to focus the national security team on the cases of all Americans that are being wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world and to put forward a strategy to get them home. And then part of that was constantly meetings with the families. And on this day - on that day, he actually did have, again, a previously scheduled meeting with two of the family members in his office there.

At the time, on that day - honestly, to be frank with you - the team felt like the wind had been taken out of our sails in terms of efforts to get Paul and Evan back home. And Jake, however, felt differently. And he stressed to both Ella and Mikhail that he still saw a path forward. He thought it was going to be a little bit more of a rocky path and it might take us a little bit longer than we thought, but he gathered the team together and he told them to not let Navalny's death totally torpedo our opportunities to get these folks out. And he instructed them to come up with some additional options to make it politically viable, particularly politically viable to the Germans.

And then, if I could just fast-forward, this kind of gets - it actually is a great segue to your second question. A couple of months later - so now we're talking April 24 - Jake drafted a letter that the President sent to Chancellor Scholz, basically with the outlines of a proposal that reflected over a year of Jake's work and the team's work. And Jake really led those efforts with the U.S. and with our counterparts to start to flesh out the actual details.

But it all culminated, really, in a call by President Biden to Chancellor Scholz and then a follow-on visit by Chancellor Scholz in February, where, basically, Chancellor Scholz responded to the President, saying, "For you, I will do this." The President then turned to Jake and said, "Get it done."

So there was concern about Navalny's death slowing things down. Jake still felt optimistic, kept the families informed, instructed the team to move forward, and also worked closely with the President.

But it really - you know, internally, a lot of leadership by Jake and the team. Certainly externally, a lot of leadership by President Biden and building on the relationships that he has, particularly a really good relationship with Chancellor Scholz, again, to the point where Chancellor Scholz told the President, "For you, I will do this." And then here we are.

MS. WATERS: Next, we'll go to Nick Schifrin with PBS.

Q Hey, [senior administration official]. Thanks so much. And shout-out to Kate. Thank you so much for taking us through this, not only this morning, but ahead of today.

I know this will be a little sensitive, but as best you can, can you lift the veil a little bit on the negotiations about the names, especially of the Russians? You know, Europe has picked up - the U.S. has quite a few Russian intelligence agents. The act of figuring out which ones of those Russia was most interested beyond Krasikov, can you talk at all about how that was done - whether the mechanics or working with allies or the intelligence negotiations that happened with Russia and figure out which ones of these people detained they actually wanted and how much they were worth?

And number two, you know, everyone, of course, can celebrate the number 16 for 8, but at the same time, you know, the 16 are guilty of journalism; they're fighting for democracy. You know, the Russians are criminals. They're intelligence agents. You know, Krasikov murdered two people in a children's playground. Why do you think this is a good deal? Thanks.

Hello? Hello?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Was I muted?

MS. WATERS: Oh, it looks like we were muted that entire time. Apologies.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's really a shame because -

Q Sorry.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: - what I had just delivered was so eloquent, and now I'm not going to be able to repeat it.

What I was trying to say was: I wouldn't be at liberty to get into the specific discussions over each individual, Nick. First of all, we want to preserve the sanctity of diplomatic conversations. But it was a lot of intense diplomacy by Jake, by our State Department colleagues, and certainly by the intelligence community to work with our international allies and partners from, you know, four different countries, as well as with our Russian interlocutors, to get the right mix here.

And we believe that this is an appropriate deal that gets, again, 16 individuals out of Russian custody. And that's important.

You mentioned Krasikov. He was certainly the biggest fish that the Russians wanted back. And we are tur- - nobody is turning a blind eye to his crimes and to his connection to Russian intelligence services.

But, look, in order to secure the release of innocent people overseas and innocent Americans, you have to make some tough decisions; you have to make some tough calls.

And this deal is no different than any other one that the President has presided over or led our administration through. This one required some tough decisions too.

But in the end, Paul and Evan and Alsu and Vladimir will come home and be back with their families. And that's not insignificant. If any of these individuals that are returning to Russia decide to pick up their old ways and take up their old efforts, we're going to be monitoring, we're going to be vigilant. And if and when an opportunity presents itself, we'll continue to, as we have in the past, work with our partners to hold them accountable for that.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you. Our next question will go to Peter Baker. You should be able to unmute yourself.

Q Yeah, thank you. Thanks for doing it. Appreciate it. Can you talk about Marc Fogel, the American teacher who is in custody in Moscow? He's not part of this deal, I take it. Is that right? And if so, is there a reason why?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That is correct, Peter. I would tell you that with each of these exchanges, it's our goal to secure the release of as many Americans as we can.

At every step in this particular process, starting way back when we sought the release of Paul and Brittney together, as you might recall, we also - and we said at the time - we also sought the release of Mr. Fogel. Same was the case in this particular deal. We absolutely wanted Marc to be included, but it just wasn't going to happen. You do the best you can and you get what you can. Just like when we got Brittney out, we tried very hard for both Paul and Marc, and we just couldn't get the Russians there. In this case, we could get Paul; we couldn't get Marc.

So what that tells us is we got to keep redoubling our efforts, and we are. Even as you and I are speaking today, Peter, I can assure you that there are ongoing conversations and dialogue about Marc and about trying to get him - trying to get him released.

The other thing I think is important to mention is that every time you do one of these deals, you learn, you gain insight, you get perspective on what matters to the Russian side, what doesn't matter to the Russian side, and what they're willing to negotiate, what they're not willing to negotiate. And we have learned through this one as well. And we absolutely anticipate being able to learn - I'm sorry - to use the knowledge that we have gained from this particular deal to continue to work on Marc's release.

We understand that today will be a tough day for the Fogel family. We just want to make sure that they understand we have not forgotten Marc, and we're going to continue to work for his release.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you.

Q Do you have any sense of why -

MS. REPOSA: Go ahead.

Q Do you have any sense of why the Russians are so reluctant to him? And are there other Americans that we're still looking to get out of Russia, in addition to him? Or is he the last one?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I think in order to preserve the discussions and the negotiations that we're having about Marc, I think I'd be better if I don't get into laying out publicly what the issue is or issues are. We're trying to close those loops, and I just don't know that a public airing of it is necessarily going to help us get Marc out.

But you're right - I mean, there's a couple of other U.S. citizens who are being held abroad in other places as well. And all I would tell you is that we're continuing to work on getting them released as well. There's nothing more important to President Biden than making sure that we're looking after the safety and security of Americans overseas and, when they are wrongfully detained or held hostage, getting them home.

And as I said, more than sev- - or as Jake said, more than 70 now we've been able to secure the release of. And, of course, today is a big day as well. We're going to - we just have to keep at it, and we will.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you. Our next question will go to Andrea Mitchell. Andrea, you should be able to unmute yourself

Okay, we will come back to you. We'll go to Patsy right now.

Q Thank you, Sam. Hi, [senior administration official]. Thanks for doing this. I have two questions. The first one on the logistics. Can you speak about the flight path of the plane that will be carrying these Americans? We are hearing they're flying through Ankara. Can you confirm that?

My second question: Can you provide more details on the process in releasing our colleague, Alsu Kurmasheva? She was (inaudible) by the public; she was not even designated unlawfully detained (inaudible). When did she become part of the negotiation for this package? And any other details you can add. Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: She became part of the package of negotiations very shortly after she'd been detained. I couldn't give you the date on the calendar. I don't have that level of specificity. But as you know, she was detained back in October of last year, the fall. And shortly after that, we started including her in our discussions and our negotiating posture. And we're really glad that we're going to be able to get her home today as well.

I am not going to confirm flight paths or schedules. I think you can understand that.

One thing I wanted to - I didn't stress earlier to you all, and I want to do that now, it's - and I understand the call is under embargo, but I sure do ask you all to understand that all these individuals we're talking about, certainly these four Americans, are still in Russian custody as you and I speak right now. And so, we're going to be scrupulous about what kind of detail we put out there.

And I think, right now, I'm going to demur on talking about the actual flight path or waystations or anything like that. I'd point you back to what Jake said in his topper, thanking Turkey for some logistical support. I think I just need to leave it at that.

Bottom line is: This exchange has not occurred yet. And only after it occurs and we have confidence that our people are wheels up and on the way home, back to their families, we'll be able to talk in a little bit more detail about the actual physical process.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you. Our next question will go to Trevor Hunnicutt. You should be able to unmute yourself.

Q Hey, thanks for doing this. Two questions. One

was just on the logistics of the Krasikov release from Germany to Russia, if there was any - how that release is being done, if that's like a pardon or what the legal mechanism is there.

And then, two, just if there's any analysis on what this means in terms of U.S.-Russia relations. Is this a sign that the two countries can do deals and can get things done?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Trevor, I think I'm going to refer you to the Germans to talk about whatever legal administrative process has been observed in terms of Krasikov, (inaudible) since he was being - he was arrested and held inside their system, their legal system. I think I'd refer you to them on that.

He was - again, as I said, he was the big fish that the Russians really wanted. And we're extremely grateful for the chance to work with Scholz and the German government for being able to participate and to include him in this exchange.

And again, I want to point to the strength of President Biden's relationships and leadership on the world stage in terms of pulling this together - I mean, not just Germany, but, you know, Norway, Slovenia, Poland.

One of the things that you all may not know is that the Sunday that the President announced he was no longer going to pursue reelection, the - and I'm not making this up - the hour before he released that statement - literally an hour before he released that statement, he was on the phone with his Slovenian counterpart, urging them to make the final arrangements and to get this deal over the finish line. That's what happens today. This exchange is not by accident. It really is the result of a heck of a lot of leadership by President Biden and by the strength of relationships.

It's also - and I know you didn't ask this, but I don't care; I'm going to go forward on this one other point: It shows the power of alliances and partnerships and why investing in alliances and partnerships really does matter and can pay what we would consider, no kidding, tangible and concrete dividends, like what we have today.

But anyway, that's - that's not what you asked. I would refer you to the German government for the administrative stuff on Krasikov.

On U.S.-Russia relations - not a bad segue then - I think what we have proven willing to do with Russia is hold them accountable for their aggression on the world stage, particularly in Ukraine, while at the same time compartmentalizing out working on securing the release of Americans that they are wrongfully detaining.

I would be cautious, and I would counsel anyone to be cautious, in surmising from this that it's some sort of breakthrough in the relationship or that it portends some détente with Russia or an easing of the tensions in our relationships - our relationship. That's not going to be the case given what Mr. Putin continues to do inside Ukraine and the threats that he continues to levy against our NATO Allies and our partners across Europe, the burgeoning defense relationship that he's forming with the PRC and with North Korea, with Iran. All these things are of significant concern to us, and you will not see a policy change from President Biden or the administration when it comes to standing up to Putin's aggression as a result of this.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you. We will try to go back to Andrea, if you want to try unmuting yourself again.

Okay, we will move forward.

Our next question will go to the line of Eric Tucker.

Q Hi. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Just a quick logistical question for you, [senior administration official]. And I am mindful of the sensitivities here, but there are now a couple of media reports this morning, first Bloomberg and now CNN, that are reporting that a massive deal is underway. And so, it feels sort of increasingly untenable to be able to keep everything under wraps.

So, to the extent there's a way to renegotiate some of the terms of the embargo to enable this piece of the story to move forward, we'd be very grateful. So I just wanted to ask that, first of all.

And then the second piece is to Krasikov, whether there was a way that you can describe why it is that the Russians were so determined to get this particular person back throughout the course of all these negotiations, what it was that you were able to glean about his significance to the Kremlin. Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, Eric. I understand some of your colleagues decided to move forward, regrettably, and to break the embargo, which we find wholly unacceptable. We also find unacceptable - we would find unacceptable any effort by us to lift the embargo given the fact, as I said earlier, I think to Trevor's question, that these folks are still in Russian custody. And we beseech you all to continue to abide by the agreement. And just because there's some stories out there, it doesn't make it right that they're there, and it certainly doesn't lift our obligation to do everything we can to get this exchange to actually happen.

I can't stress enough: These folks are still in Russian custody. They have not been handed over to us. And while we don't have any indication at this time that this exchange is not going to occur, the last thing that we would want is any reason for the Russians to renege. And I think you can understand why we're taking that so seriously and why we can't take anything for granted or at face value when it comes from the Russian side. So we've got to be careful here.

Again, I implore you all to please try to hold the line. I know it's hard. I know you're in a competitive business. But by golly, there's a whole lot of lives on the line right now and families that are literally chewing their fingernails off, and we just - we want to make sure we get this done right.

On Krasikov, I really can't get inside the Russian thinking, and I wouldn't pretend to be able to do that for you, frankly. And it's not just me; I don't think anybody here on the U.S. side has a full, complete contextual picture of why Krasikov was treated with the priority that he was by the Russian side.

I mean, look, you know, FSB connection, paid assassin, ordered by the Russian government to conduct the assassinations that he did, the murders that he did in Germany. And this is a bad dude and a member of the Russian intelligence service. So, I mean, they obviously considered him a key asset and wanted him back. And it was no small thing for the German government to agree to let him go, which is, again, why we are so extraordinarily grateful to Chancellor Scholz and his leadership here.

When I talked earlier about tough calls, you know, you look at the whole exchange here, it's a big one - and as Jake alluded to, probably the biggest one since the Cold War. Actually, it is the biggest one since the Cold War. Lots of tough calls throughout this whole exchange. And, certainly, Krasikov is one of the toughest calls that leaders had to make.

But I really - it would be difficult for me to say with great granularity why the Russians put the emphasis they did on him, but they did. And, again, thanks to some good leadership and some terrific negotiations, it worked out.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you. Our next question will go to the line of Arden Farhi. You should be able to unmute yourself.

Q Hey, guys. Can you hear me?

MS. REPOSA: Yep, we can.

Q Can you give us any insight into what the President is doing today related to this? How he'll be monitoring it, how he'll be recognizing it once it does happen?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah. He's monitoring it in near real-time by updates from his national security team, and he will stay plugged into the process throughout the day.

As Jake mentioned in his opening statement, the President will be meeting the families today at the White House and having them in the Oval Office today, this morning. Obviously, he'll keep close tabs on the flight trajectory once they get on board and are making their way back home. He will have an opportunity to speak on this today, after being with the families and after the exchanges occur.

You can expect to see a statement from the President, a paper statement, once we know everybody is wheels up and safe and sound. We'll obviously document the meeting with the families. We hope to be able to have the families at that time at least connect with their loved ones by phone once they're on the airplane. And then the President will speak to the nation shortly after that. So, stay tuned for that. Our White House comms folks can give you the details on that. But he will make remarks around midday today.

And then, I think there'll be other opportunities that the President will take advantage of in the coming hours. But I think for right now, I need to preserve a little flexibility on that as these folks make their way home. But you will absolutely hear and see from the President by midday today on this.

Q And if I can ask one more. Jake mentioned Turkey; he thanked Turkey. Can you give us any more insight into their role here?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I really can't. The farthest I can go today is to reiterate what Jake said about logistical support, important logistical support. But out of respect to our partners, I think that's really as much detail as I can go into.

MS. REPOSA: Thank you. Before we wrap, we're going to try Andrea Mitchell one more time. There's three of you on the call, so we're going to let you all in and see if one of you can unmute.

Okay, seeing none. I will turn it over to Kate to close the call.

MS. WATERS: Thank you all for joining us. We will have an update here, as soon as we have an update to share, vis-à-vis the safety and security of these Americans. Thanks.

8:40 A.M. EDT

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