The family of Alabama native David Barnes, who is serving a 21-year sentence in Russia, is hoping the upcoming Trump-Putin summit will lead to a prisoner exchange.
As President Donald Trump prepares to travel to Alaska on Friday to address the future of Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the family of the Texas man serving the longest prison sentence of any American currently being detained in Russia is hopeful that another prisoner exchange between the two nations will be on the agenda.
« We hope for better relations between the U.S. and Russia that will hopefully lead to the release of my brother », Margaret Aaron, one of David Barnes’ two sisters, anchor Gio Benitez in an interview Wednesday.
Barnes, who grew up in Alabama, has been detained in Moscow since January 2022 and is currently serving a 21.5-year sentence.
« He’s hanging in there », Aaron said. « He has been extremely strong through the last three and a half years. We’re extremely proud of him and he has continued to be hopeful that something will happen. »
Unlike other Americans who have been held in Russia, Barnes is accused by Russian prosecutors of crimes in the United States, not Russia. Yet American law enforcement had no involvement in Barnes’ prosecution in Moscow.
Barnes was convicted by a Russian judge of abusing his two sons years earlier in Texas, but prosecutors in Montgomery County, Texas, that law enforcement in the Lone Star State investigated the claims after they were reported by Barnes’ Russian ex-wife and did not find evidence to support them.
