(Bloomberg) -- The historic prisoner swap that brought about the release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich and 15 others was made possible by a personal promise German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made to US President Joe Biden during a White House visit. But until Thursday, it was far from clear the plan would succeed.
During the Feb. 9 trip, Biden appealed to Scholz to release Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian killer serving a life sentence for murder in Germany, as part of a complex six-country arrangement.
The German leader was reticent at first: Krasikov had gunned down a Chechen separatist in 2019 in broad daylight in Berlin’s Tiergarten park, supposedly at the personal order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the end, Scholz conceded, based on a warm relationship with the US president that has led the chancellor to describe Biden as a close friend.
“It was two guys actually trying to figure out a solution,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday after the deal was unveiled. “That was the nature of all of the conversations, and ultimately, the chancellor was able to say to the president, ‘Let’s do this.’”
Scholz had agreed to the prisoner swap on the assumption that it would also involve Russian activist Alexey Navalny, who died a week later while imprisoned in Russia.
When Navalny died on Feb. 16, Sullivan happened to be meeting with Gershkovich’s parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, a senior US administration official said. The Wall Street Journal reporter was being held in Russia on espionage charges — charges that he and the Journal reject.
The national security team worried that Navalny’s death would impact their efforts to secure the release of Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, another American held prisoner in Russia, the official said. But Sullivan stressed to Evan Gershkovich’s parents that he still saw a path forward.
Shortly after, Putin made it clear in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that any deal would be contingent on Krasikov’s release. “We have certain conditions that are being discussed through channels between special services,” Putin said. “I believe an agreement can be reached.”
In April, Sullivan drafted a proposal for Scholz on Biden’s behalf that reflected more than a year’s worth of work by the White House national security team, according to the senior US official.
Meanwhile, German officials repeatedly denied reports that Krasikov might be part of a deal. Scholz declined to comment on the matter whenever he was asked about it.
Final arrangements came together on July 21, after Biden called Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob urging him to help seal the deal by releasing two Russians held as spies in that country, according to a US official.
It was an intense day for the 81-year-old president. About an hour later, Biden announced he was ending his reelection campaign.
Scholz broke his silence Thursday evening, interrupting his summer vacation to welcome German nationals released as part of the exchange.
“Nobody took the decision lightly to let go a murderer serving a life sentence after only a few years,” Scholz said at the Cologne, Germany, airport. But the government’s obligation to protect its citizens, and solidarity with the US, mattered more, he said.
Biden said Thursday he owes Scholz “a great sense of gratitude.”
“The demands they were making of me required me to get some significant concessions from Germany, which they originally concluded they could not do because of the person in question,” the president said at the White House.
--With assistance from Jordan Fabian.
(Updates with Scholz comments starting in 13th paragraph.)
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