Kremlin says Russia has “no political prisoners” and rejects US offer

The Kremlin said that Russia had not discussed with the United States the possible easing of American sanctions in exchange for the release of political prisoners.

This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian media reported .

“We categorically deny the existence of any political prisoners and believe that such a statement of the issue is completely inappropriate,” Peskov said.

According to him, Moscow did not discuss the issue of easing American sanctions in such a context with Washington.

At the same time, Peskov admitted that Russian and American intelligence services are maintaining contacts regarding possible prisoner exchanges.

Earlier it was reported that US President’s special representative John Cole proposed to Donald Trump a new scheme for interaction with Russia. It involves the release of political prisoners in Russia in exchange for the easing of US sanctions and the gradual restoration of economic ties. According to the publication, Trump supported this idea.

Cole has used a similar approach in negotiations with Belarus. In September, Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 15 more prisoners after talks with Trump’s special representative. Reuters noted that Cole had secured the release of hundreds of people over the course of a year as part of agreements that were accompanied by partial easing of US sanctions.

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