A major prisoner exchange is occurring today between Russia and multiple Western countries, including the United States. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and other Russian political prisoners will reportedly be freed in exchange for the return of a number of Russians jailed in Western countries for espionage, murder and other crimes. (The Guardian)
Our Take
Much like Russia’s arrest of basketball player Britney Griner in 2022—also released in a prisoner exchange—Gershkovich’s arrest last year was widely considered Moscow’s latest act of “hostage diplomacy,” or the arbitrary detention of foreigners in order to gain diplomatic leverage.
Russia is far from the only country that engages in the practice. In recent decades, Iran has been known to target dual-nationals in order to gain leverage in sanctions negotiations, and China has been accused of using hostage diplomacy as retaliation. Of course, all of these countries take advantage of opaque legal systems to justify their actions on the international stage.