Opinion: US-Russia Prisoner Swap: Trump’s Promise, Delivered By Biden

In a high-profile prisoner swap that is being hailed by Biden supporters as a major victory for the administration, Russia released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan, along with 14 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 who were held hostage or wrongfully detained.” This set the tone for a political show of strength by the Democrats in the upcoming days as the party prepares for its big event in Chicago, the Democratic National Convention on August 19, where President Biden will be making his baton-handing speech.

A Win To Show

The prisoner swap provides him with the perfect opportunity to show that his administration got work done while the Republican nominee 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 was still running for a second term in May when Trump made this claim). He has been proven wrong in less than three months.

Social media was abuzz with celebratory notes around the release of Gershkovich, and it was Eric Columbus, litigator for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose X post drew attention to the comparison between Biden and Trump when he said, “Trump loses his hostage as Evan Gershkovich is released.”

Trump’s Response

However, Trump remained at his combative best, asking why details of the prisoner swap were not shared yet. He wrote on Truth Social – “How many people do we get versus them? Are we also paying them cash? Are they giving us cash (Please withdraw that question, because I’m sure the answer is NO)? Are we releasing murderers, killers, or thugs? Just curious because we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps. “

Trump also claimed that he got back many hostages and gave the other country “NOTHING – and never any cash”. He also played on the point that releasing, what may be called prisoners convicted of serious crimes, would set a “bad precedent for the future”.

Among those released as part of the deal by the Western governments – US, Germany, Poland, Norway, and Slovenia – is convicted murderer Vadim Krasikov from a German prison. Krasikov was convicted for killing a Georgian asylum seeker who fought in Chechnya against the Russians. He was killed just meters away from the office of the then-German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin in 2019. Germany has called the announcement to allow the swap for Krasikov “not an easy decision”.

Biden’s ‘Man Of Action’ Moment

Some US media quoted senior administration officials to say that German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz had told President Biden in February in the White House that he would agree to the difficult swap only for Biden. In his announcement after the swap was publicly announced, Biden thanked the allies including Turkey, which played a vital role in facilitating the release. He said, “This would not have been possible without our allies… Today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world.”

The biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War with Russia would also help Biden leave office asserting his diplomatic prowess, that he is a man who had the skill to be able to bring together American allies and partners in tough times. The Democrats would hope that for Biden, who is under the scanner for his stand in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict and the botched-up Afghan withdrawal, the prisoner swap that is being termed “historic” by the US media would turn the attention to the bigger American issue around Russia. And even as Biden bows out of the race making way for Harris, his diplomatic legacy would not end up being a baggage too heavy for Harris to carry into November. 

(Maha Siddiqui is a journalist who has extensively reported on public policy and global affairs.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author