T.J. says the Biden administration offered to bring home the two Americans. There is a time and a place for it.
For months, the U.S. State Department has carefully measured everything they said about the case of the woman who was held in Russia. Then arrived Wednesday.
She told the judge that when she was arrested, she was denied proper translation, was denied access to a lawyer, and was coerced into signing papers she couldn't understand. Her testimony changed her strategy of keeping her head down and not making waves. Next week, she will find out if it had any effect.
A few hours after the court appearance, the U.S. Secretary of State announced that the United States had made a " substantial proposition" to get the release of the two Americans. CNN reported that the United States had offered to trade Viktor Bout, the notorious Russian arms dealer who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in the United States, for someone else.
The Foreign Minister of Russia will be spoken to by the Secretary of State, and he will demand the release of the two men.
They made a big deal of it. The answers they gave answered a few questions, but raised a lot more. We know what we know and we don't. There's a lot of not knowing.
The question of the Biden administration's willingness to trade for prisoners has been answered. The administration argued that trading Bout would be dangerous. The only sensible solution is to cut a deal to bring back the two Americans. It was clear that the debate ended a long time ago.
His comments are a big change in messaging. The U.S. needs to let the trial run its course, Russia said recently. The United States isn't going to pretend that her trial is legit as the trial is nearing the end.
We don't know anything. We don't know.
The administration announced a deal that was supposedly offered weeks ago.
It would appear that it is impossible for Russia to agree to a trade without looking like it caved in to U.S. demands. Russia said that the foreign minister had not been invited to speak.
What did you see change?
Speculation began Wednesday afternoon.
The administration is being criticized at home for not doing enough.
Was it because a deal had fallen apart?
Is it because the US wants to prepare the American public for a long sentence for the man?
There is usually more to the story with negotiations like this, and there is a good chance we won't know what changed.
She could be sentenced to the full 10 years.
When the two countries can reach a deal that will bring her home has been the real concern of everyone. That is the most unknown thing in her case.
We know that Russia will not discuss a deal until her trial is over. We know that Russia has been talking about a deal, but we don't want that to be public. It would appear that a deal isn't imminent if Blinken hasn't talked to Lavrov yet. We don't know what we don't know
In a criminal trial in Russia, there is little you can do to change your fortune for the better, but it's very easy to make it worse.
She knew that a guilty verdict was inevitable. She admitted to breaking the law unintentionally. She said she made a mistake. She didn't say if she had any complaints. She did not do anything to upset the Russians.
She testified for the first time about her treatment. Russia wants us to treat this like a legitimate trial but when the judge hands down that lengthy sentence the world will know Russia didn't follow its own laws.
Nothing so far. Sources said they were trying to absorb all of it, and that they weren't sure what to think of it.
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