Path home is unclear for American detainees
Some US citizens are jailed in Russia, Ukraine
WASHINGTON – The already challenging path to bringing home Americans jailed in Russia and Ukraine is likely even more complicated now with a war overwhelming the region and increasingly hostile relations between the United States and the Kremlin.
Marine veteran Trevor Reed and corporate security executive Paul Whelan are each serving lengthy prison sentences in Russia, but their families have long held out hope for some sort of deal – including a possible prisoner exchange – that could get their loved ones home.
Now, though, that seems a much harder ask.
“I can’t help but think that this is not going to help Trevor get released sooner, obviously,” Reed’s mother, Paula Reed, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The war with Ukraine has not only occupied global attention, but it has also led to punishing economic sanctions by the U.S. and escalating Russian aggression in the face of international condemnation over its invasion. Though the conflict has not closed off avenues for bringing home Reed and Whelan, the prospect of concessions by either side anytime soon is eclipsed by the likelihood of continued antagonism by Russia.
“If this becomes long and drawn out, and they take over Ukraine, then the Western countries and the United States are going to be at odds with Russia for a long time,” said Reed’s father, Joey Reed. “That could lead to additional charges against our son, if he lives, and keep him there indefinitely, which is not uncommon in Russia.”
He said he was particularly concerned about a loss of communications between the two superpowers that could foreclose any possibility of the U.S. government getting him home.
“We’ve been told that even during the Cold War, they kept channels open. Even Kennedy was able to talk to Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis,” Reed said. “Anyone that’s advocating for closing embassies and cutting them off, that’s a gigantic mistake when two major nuclear powers are not speaking and are at odds with each other.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, is holding North Dakota farmer Kurt Groszhans, accused in a plot to assassinate a current member of the country’s political cabinet.
His family and supporters say the charges are trumped up, and were designed to silence Groszhan’s allegations of government corruption in Ukraine.
State Department principal deputy press spokeswoman Jalina Porter, asked how the war affected the cases of all three men, said only that the administration’s top priority is the “safety and security of all Americans.”
“This is something that the secretary works on day in and day out,” she said.
Reed, who is from Texas, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 on charges that he assaulted police officers who were driving him to a police station after picking him up following a night of heavy drinking at a party. He has struggled with health issues behind bars, most recently coughing up blood this week, his father said.
He is regarded by the U.S. government as a wrongful detainee.