Brother of arrested former US marine says he cannot help but question if arrest was connected to a potential swap
Russia’s deputy foreign minister brushed back suggestions Saturday that an American being held in Moscow on suspicion of spying could be exchanged for a Russian citizen.
The brother of Paul Whelan, however, said he cannot help but question whether the events are indeed connected.
“You look at what’s going on and you wonder if this is just a large game of pieces being moved around,” David Whelan said. “You start to wonder if all of these things are connected. But at the same time, they could just be arbitrary events.”
Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who also holds Canadian, British and Irish citizenship, was detained in Moscow in late December. His arrest has led to speculation that Russia could be using him to bargain for a Russian who pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent in the United States.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said discussing a possible swap involving Whelan and Maria Butina would be premature because Whelan has not been formally charged, according to Russian news agencies.
“As to the possibility of exchanges of one sort of another, it’s impossible and incorrect to consider the question now when an official charge hasn’t even been presented,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying by state news agency RIA-Novosti.
