State Dept Pushes That They ‘Continue To Work To Bring Evan' Home As His Trial In Russia Continues

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During a press briefing on Wednesday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller answered reporter questions on Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

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Transcript

00:00Can I just follow up on that, Vince, while you start with that?

00:04Sure.

00:05Given officials in the Biden administration have said once a trial begins, it's not

00:11highly likely that there will be a deal to secure that person's release.

00:16Now that we're seeing this trial begin, what do you guys expect in terms of the likelihood

00:21of any deal coming to fruition in the near term here?

00:23I don't want to make any kind of public assessment or speak to negotiations that happen,

00:28of course, in private.

00:29We have been working to bring both Evan and Paul home since they were detained.

00:34As we've said, we have put a significant offer on the table some months ago.

00:38We continue to work privately to try to secure their release.

00:41We shouldn't have to do that.

00:43They should both be released immediately, but we will continue our efforts.

00:47Those have been happening before Evan's trial.

00:49They will continue during the trial.

00:51Should he be convicted, which of course he will be, it's not a free trial, they will

00:55continue after the trial, but we want to see him returned home immediately.

00:59That significant offer that you guys have repeatedly referred to that was put on the

01:03table months ago, has that offer been re-upped in any way or changed and put back on the

01:09table in any way, or are we still standing at that singular offer that you guys keep

01:15pointing back to?

01:16I just don't want to speak to this in public.

01:17I don't want to negotiate in public.

01:18I've seen that Russian officials have made comments about this matter in recent days,

01:24and I don't want to respond to those either.

01:26We are working day and night to try to secure the release of both Evan and Paul, and that

01:31will continue.

01:32Just to follow up, if I understood you correctly, the embassy officials were ushered out prior

01:36to the –

01:37They were there before the start of the hearing, and they were not allowed to attend the hearing

01:41itself.

01:42Thank you.

01:43What can you tell us about his condition?

01:44We all saw his pictures from this glass – behind the glass cage.

01:49Where is he being held right now during the trial?

01:52I can follow up with you to that.

01:54I don't have it here at the podium.

01:55I can follow up with where he's being held off right now.

01:57Did embassy officials have a chance to interact with him?

01:59They did not.

02:00I said that in my opening statement.

02:01And I know you guys don't typically get into politics from this podium, but given that

02:05it directly intersects with your efforts to secure Evan, the former President Trump, who's

02:13now the Republican nominee, said earlier that Evan would be released prior to him taking

02:22office if he wins the election on November 5th.

02:27Is that – is there any legitimacy to that claim as far as this building knows?

02:33So I am not going to deal with comments made in a political context in a political campaign,

02:38but I would note that I would hope that every American who cares about the safety and security

02:45of their fellow American citizens would demand the release of Evan and Paul now – not November,

02:50not December, not January, but now.

02:53That ought to be the position of every American, because I would hope that every American citizen

02:57wants to see these two wrongfully detained Americans return home immediately.

State Dept Pushes That They ‘Continue To Work To Bring Evan' Home As His Trial In Russia Continues

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