US State Secretary and Russian Foreign Minister hold first phone call since July 2022

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have held their first phone call since July 2022.

Source: European Pravda, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Details: The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Blinken and Lavrov discussed the illegal detention in Russia of Evan Gershkovich, a journalist from The Wall Street Journal, whom Russia accused of espionage.

According to the statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov told Blinken that the media has "inflated" the story, and that Gershkovich has allegedly been "caught red-handed trying to obtain classified information by collecting data constituting a state secret under the guise of his status as a journalist."

"Several issues of importance to both countries have also been discussed during the conversation," the statement read, without clarifying what those issues were.

Updated at 18:06: US Department of State confirmed that Blinken held a phone call with Lavrov and reported that Blinken called on the Kremlin to immediately release Gershkovich and another illegally detained US citizen, Paul Whelan.

"The Secretary and Foreign Minister Lavrov also discussed the importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work," the US State Department statement reads.

Blinken and Lavrov’s previous phone call in July 2022 also concerned the release of US citizens illegally detained in Russia. The two also spoke briefly on the margins of the G20 meeting in New Delhi in March 2023.

Background: The information about the detention of  The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich surfaced on the morning of 30 March. Russia’s FSB security service claimed that Gershkovich was "acting on US instructions" to "collect information classified as a state secret about the activities of a Russian defence enterprise".

A district court in Moscow remanded Gershkovich in custody until 29 May.

The Wall Street Journal denied Russia’s allegations that Gershkovich was involved in espionage and demanded that the journalist be released.

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