Lavrov reaffirms Russia's assertion that Whelan and Gershkovich were not unlawfully arrested.

​Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov avoided directly answering a question about a possible prisoner swap for Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, instead referring to several Russian nationals currently being held in US prisons. Lavrov noted that the accusations are dubious and that the US State Department has designated both Gershkovich and Whelan as wrongfully detained. He also rejected the US State Department's designation of both Gershkovich and Whelan as wrongfully detained, which Lavrov believes should be dealt with privately. The two cases are Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich, who was arrested in March and faces up to 20 years in prison on espionage charges, and former Marine Whelan, who was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. Lavrov believes those cases should be dealt with privately.​