Trump calls prisoner swap between Russia and the West "a win for Putin"

Donald Trump, the US presidential candidate from the Republican party, has criticised the agreement on the prisoner swap between Russia and the West.

Source: Trump in a Friday broadcast of the Fox Business TV channel, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Trump believes that the prisoner swap became "a win for Putin or any other country that deals with us".

Speaking about the liberation of Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter, Trump admitted that bringing the prisoners back from Russia is good for the US but stated that the agreements under which it happened were "very bad".

 "It wouldn’t have happened with us [if Trump were in power – ed.]. We would’ve gotten him [Gershkovich – ed.] back. We wouldn’t have had to pay anything. We wouldn’t have to let some of the great killers of the world go, because that’s what happened, as you know," Trump said.

He was likely talking about Vadim Krasikov, an agent of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB), convicted in Germany in 2019 for the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen field commander, in Berlin.

It should be noted that the White House refuted the Repiblican’s claims about the alleged weakening of sanctions or paying for the liberation of American prisoners in Russia.  

Background: On 1 August a swap of 24 prisoners between Russia and six Western states, mainly the US and Germany, was held in Türkiye. The talks between the West and Russia, which led to the big exchange, lasted for over two years.

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