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In a high-profile prisoner swap hailed by Biden supporters as a major victory for the administration, Russia has released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, along with fourteen others.
In a press statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “Under President Biden’s leadership, we have secured the release of dozens of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained.” This set the tone for a show of political strength from Democrats in the coming days as the party prepares for its big event in Chicago, the Democratic National Convention on August 19, where President Biden will hand over his baton.
A victory to show
The prisoner swap gives him the perfect opportunity to show that his administration has done a job while Republican candidate Donald Trump made false claims. What gives Biden a shot in the arm is that Trump had claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would release Evan Gershkovich for him, but not for anyone else (by which he meant President Biden, who ran for a second term in May when Trump ran for office this claim). Within three months he was proven wrong.
Social media was abuzz with celebratory notes surrounding Gershkovich’s release, and it was Eric Columbus, trial attorney for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose X-post drew attention to the Biden-Trump comparison when he said, “Trump loses his hostage like Evan Gershkovich. issued.”
Trump’s response
Trump, however, remained at his combative best, questioning why details of the prisoner swap had not yet been shared. He wrote on Truth Social: “How many people do we get against them? Do we pay them cash too? Do they give us cash (please withdraw that question because I’m sure the answer is NO)? Do we release murderers? murderers, or criminals? Just curious because we never make good deals, but mostly about hostage exchanges.
Trump also claimed he got many hostages back and gave the other country “NOTHING – and never cash.” He also played on the point that releasing so-called prisoners convicted of serious crimes would set a “bad precedent for the future.”
Among those released by Western governments – the US, Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia – as part of the deal is convicted murderer Vadim Krasikov from a German prison. Krasikov was convicted of the murder of a Georgian asylum seeker who fought against the Russians in Chechnya. He was murdered in 2019 just meters away from then German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin. Germany called the announcement to allow the trade for Krasikov “not an easy decision.”
Biden’s ‘Man of Action’ moment
Some US media quoted senior government officials as saying that German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz told President Biden at the White House in February that he would agree to the difficult trade only for Biden. In his announcement after the swap was publicly announced, Biden thanked allies, including Turkey, which played a crucial role in facilitating the release. He said: “This wouldn’t have been possible without our allies… Today is a powerful example of why it is vital to have friends in this world.”
The biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War with Russia would also help Biden leave office and assert his diplomatic prowess, a man who had the ability to bring America’s allies and partners together in difficult times. Democrats hope that for Biden, who is under the scanner for his stance on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and failed Afghan withdrawal, the prisoner swap called “historic” by the US media would shift focus to the larger US issue around Russia. And even if Biden withdraws from the race and makes way for Harris, his diplomatic legacy would not ultimately become a baggage too heavy for Harris to carry in November.
(Maha Siddiqui is a journalist who has reported extensively on public policy and global affairs.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author