Former US president, Donald Trump has claimed that he will use his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to get Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich freed from a Russian prison.
Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that this would happen soon after the November election in the United States when he is seeking to defeat President Biden and return to the White House.
“Evan Gershkovich, the Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who is being held by Russia, will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office. He will be HOME, SAFE, AND WITH HIS FAMILY,” Trump said.
“Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!”
Trump did not say if he had made any contact with Putin or say what grounds he had to believe that the Russian leader would release Gershkovich.
Asked about the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has “naturally not had contacts with Donald Trump”.
Gershkovich was arrested in Russia in March last year on spying charges that he, his employer, WSJ, and the Biden administration have all strongly denied.
He has spent well over a year in a Moscow prison, with no date set for a trial.
Trump has also claimed he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to the White House, though he has not said how he would do this.