EDITORIAL: Marine vet's release from Russia testament to diplomats' work
Apr. 30—BLESSED are the peacemakers, for Trevor Reed is home.
Reed, a 30-year-old Marine veteran, was arrested in 2019 after what Russian authorities called an altercation with Moscow police. He was almost three years into a 9-year sentence in Russia's notoriously brutal prison system.
The news of Reed's freedom and the negotiations to bring it about — with the United States and Russia at odds over the latter's invasion of Ukraine — was nothing less than stunning. It was also a testimony to the unseen work done by the U.S. diplomatic corps.
With the war in Ukraine, negotiations with Russia were necessarily awkward, and became more so in their final hours.
The announcement of Reed's release came after reports last weekend that the United States provided intelligence that enabled Ukraine to shoot down a fully loaded troop transport aircraft and may have enabled the Ukrainians to repel the Russians' drive on Kyiv.
But if Reed's release was surprising, it probably was not sudden.
It was likely the fruit of seeds planted over weeks or months of discussions that might have begun long before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his tanks to roll across the Ukrainian border.
Negotiating with foreign entities — especially the Russians, famously described by George Orwell as "half gangster, half gramophone" — is fraught with peril. Even when they work, they carry the risk of encouraging enemies to snatch up Americans in the hope of winning some concession.
And the price of Reed's release is potentially high.
The United States handed over Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had served roughly half of a 20-year prison sentence for international cocaine trafficking, in exchange for Reed.
Ultimately, though, the White House and the State Department decided that bringing Reed home was worth surrendering Yaroshenko.
During Reed's imprisonment, he had become something of a cause celebre, with many asking why the Trump and, later, Biden administrations weren't doing more to secure his release.
The answer is that the last two presidents almost certainly were working to bring Trevor Reed home. More specifically, the State Department, led by Roger Cartsens, special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, worked to bring Reed home.
By all indications, there are more negotiations ongoing. The Russians are holding Paul Whelan, a corporate security expert accused of spying, and WNBA star Brittney Griner, accused of possessing a cannabis product.
Griner, a lesbian, specifically faces extreme danger being imprisoned in a country where it is illegal even to offer supportive actions or gestures for LGBTQ people, and homosexuals have been tortured by authorities.
The stakes are stratospheric.
But the Reed negotiations give us a rare opportunity to recognize a diplomatic service that is often under-appreciated — all too often, we do not honor peacemakers as we do warriors.
When the tanks roll and nations go to war, it happens in the open for everyone to see. The images travel around the world, literally at the speed of light. War is loud.
Diplomacy is more ... diplomatic. It happens when people talk in hushed and often not-so-hushed tones behind closed doors, and in locations chosen specifically to conceal their existence from the media and even other government officials.
And if it appears that the diplomats aren't doing anything, that's when appearances can deceive.
