‘Today Was A Very Good Day’: Biden Admin Celebrates Historic Prisoner Swap With Russia

last month

During a White House press briefing on Thursday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan & Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke about the major prisoner swap with Russia.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00So, it's a historic and important day.

00:03President Biden and his administration have secured a deal for Americans who were unjustly

00:08imprisoned in Russia.

00:10I know for a lot of reporters in this room, especially Wall Street Journal team, this

00:16is personal.

00:17And I know for the families of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir, it's one of the best days

00:23of their lives.

00:24As President Biden said in his statement, as we celebrate the return of these brave

00:30Americans, we remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world,

00:37and reaffirm our pledge to their families.

00:40We see you, we are with you, and we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home

00:46where they belong.

00:49And with that, I will turn it over to our National Security Advisor, Jake Selvin.

00:56Thank you, Corinne, and good afternoon, everyone.

00:59Today, as you've seen and heard from the President and from Corinne, we've completed one of the

01:03largest and certainly the most complex exchange in history.

01:08And Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kermysheva, and Vladimir Karamurza, three American citizens

01:14and one American green card holder, are finally coming home.

01:18I had the honor and pleasure of joining the President this morning in the Oval Office

01:21as he shared the wonderful news with the families.

01:25And then together, they spoke with Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir, who are on the tarmac

01:30in Ankara with U.S. officials where the exchange happened.

01:34To say that everyone in the room was overjoyed, even at a loss for words, is an understatement.

01:40Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have made clear that they

01:44will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around

01:48the world is reunited with their family.

01:51As an administration, we're proud to celebrate the return home of over 70 such Americans

01:56from places around the world like Afghanistan, Burma, Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Venezuela,

02:02Rwanda, and elsewhere.

02:05Today's exchange is a feat of diplomacy that honestly could only be achieved by a leader

02:09like Joe Biden.

02:10At his direction, the professionals in our national security, foreign policy, and intelligence

02:15community worked tirelessly and relentlessly to secure the release of 16 individuals who

02:21were detained in Russia.

02:23The three American citizens, one American green card holder, five German citizens, and

02:27seven Russian political prisoners in exchange for eight individuals held in a combination

02:33of the United States, Germany, Norway, Slovenia, and Poland.

02:38The President was himself personally engaged in the diplomacy that brought this about,

02:44including multiple conversations with Chancellor Schultz, with the other leaders of the countries

02:49who provided some of the Russians as part of the exchange, and most recently, as has

02:54now been reported, calling the Prime Minister of Slovenia early in the afternoon of Sunday,

03:00July 21st, to coordinate the final arrangements to make the final piece of this deal fall

03:05into place.

03:07There is no more singular or concrete demonstration that the alliances that the President has

03:12reinvigorated around the world matter to Americans, to the individual safety of Americans,

03:18and to the collective security of Americans.

03:20And we're deeply grateful to our allies who supported us in these complex negotiations

03:25to achieve this outcome.

03:26And while I'm standing at this podium, the President is reaching out to give personal

03:31thanks to the leaders of Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey.

03:36And honestly, guys, I can just say this was vintage Joe Biden, rallying American allies

03:44to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters, and doing it with intricate statecraft,

03:49pulling his whole team together to drive this across the finish line.

03:53His goal has always been to put the families first, the families who are enduring an unimaginable

03:58ordeal.

03:59From the President on down, we've stayed in regular and routine touch with them.

04:03I spent a lot of time with the families of Evan and Paul and also.

04:09And most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations.

04:12But not today.

04:13Today, excuse me, today was a very good day.

04:22And we're going to build on it, drawing inspiration and continued courage from it for all of those

04:27who are held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world.

04:30And that includes Mark Fogle, who we are actively working to get his release from Russia

04:36as well.

04:37And there are others being held in Syria, Afghanistan, other countries around the world

04:41who we are working to get released.

04:44And just on a personal note, I want to say that this is the culmination of a monumental

04:48level of effort and level of skill by my teammates across the national security enterprise.

04:55My colleagues here at the NSC, my colleagues at the Central Intelligence Agency, my colleagues

04:59at the State Department.

05:01These are dedicated, talented professionals who are not in the headlines, who don't get

05:05to stand at a podium like this one, and it was at the President's direction that they

05:09built and pulled off the most intricate, expansive deal of its kind in memory.

05:14So they know who they are.

05:16I salute them.

05:18And every American should be proud to have those kind of people standing up on their

05:22behalf and on behalf of American security.

05:25While this has unfolded, we've been closely monitoring the events in the Middle East as

05:29well.

05:30Since October 7th, we have worked to deter and prevent escalation into a wider regional

05:35war.

05:36That risk has always been there.

05:38That risk is there now.

05:39And we are determined to engage in deterrence, defense, and de-escalation to try to ensure

05:45that we do not have a wider regional conflict or escalation that goes unchecked.

05:51So I'm happy to get more into that in response to your questions.

05:54And with that, I'll turn it over to you.

‘Today Was A Very Good Day’: Biden Admin Celebrates Historic Prisoner Swap With Russia

Category

Transcript

Recommended