(NewsNation) — A day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Paul Whelan, the detained American’s brother expressed doubt the call could signal a potential prisoner swap.
“I don’t think the call actually changes anything in Paul’s case,” David Whelan said Thursday on “The Hill on NewsNation.” “It was a status update, and an extraordinary one by a secretary of state, but it doesn’t indicate that there’s any movement in Paul’s case.”
Paul Whelan has been wrongfully detained by Russia for more than four years. He was accused of espionage when he was arrested in December 2018, an accusation the U.S. government denies.
He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in a remote Russian prison camp.
“He seems to be OK … he is still motoring along, I mean he’s doing the best he can,” Whelan said of his brother’s condition in the prison. “It’s a hard existence, but he has done a remarkable job of staying upbeat, saying focused on getting through each day and hopefully getting to the day when he’s released.”
David Whelan said his brother and others are being underfed due to sanctions on Russia because of the war in Ukraine.
The family has been lobbying the U.S. State Department to engage in a prisoner swap, and the Biden administration has faced criticism for being able to free WNBA player Brittney Griner in December 2022, but not Whelan.
Griner was arrested on drug charges and sentenced to nine years in a penal camp before she returned home in a prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer. He was serving a 25-year sentence in a federal prison.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Trevor Reed was also released from a Russian prison earlier this year in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot who conspired to smuggle drugs into the United States.
Also detained in Russia is Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested earlier this year on espionage charges. The newspaper reported Wednesday that Russia has shown little interest in prisoner swaps for dozens of Russians held in U.S. prisons.
Whelan remains hopeful the two countries can reach a deal to bring his brother home.
“The U.S. government has made it clear that Paul is a priority and we expect that he will be coming home the next time that an American comes home,” Whelan said. “It would be unfortunate if he wasn’t.”