Secretary of State Antony Blinken vows to free Paul Whelan, American detained in Russia

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken spoke by phone Monday with Paul Whelan, a former Marine and businessman who the Biden administration has designated wrongfully detained by Russia for more than five years.

Blinken highlighted the contact with Whelan during a Tuesday event focused on Americans arbitrarily detained overseas.

"Our intensive efforts to bring Paul home continue every single day, and they will until he and Evan Gershkovich and every other American wrongfully detained is back with their loved ones," the U.S. secretary of state said in his remarks at the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

'Undersecretary for thugs': Bill Richardson's endless push to free Americans detained abroad

Blinken did not offer details of his phone call with Whelan.

Gershkovich, 32, is a Wall Street Journal reporter who the U.S. also says is wrongfully imprisoned in Russia.

Who is Paul Whelan?

It was the third time Blinken has spoken with Whelan, 53, since he was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on spying allegations. Whelan and the U.S. government have denied the espionage allegations. In 2020, Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan was visiting Russia for the wedding of a friend when he was arrested. He claimed he was set up in a sting operation orchestrated by Russia's intelligence services.

At the time of his detention, Whelan was the director of global security for a Michigan-based auto supplier. He was born in Canada to British parents and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

He holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports.

Gershkovich has been imprisoned awaiting trial since he was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in March last year while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg.

"Our citizens are not human bargaining chips. They are not political pawns,” Blinken said at Tuesday’s event. "If any country wrongfully holds any of our people, we will hold them accountable."

Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing Wednesday that a possible prisoner exchange between Russia and the U.S. would only be "resolved in silence," a reference to similar remarks made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

In Tucker Carlson interview: Putin's plans for Ukraine appear to echo Trump's

In the interview, Putin appeared to signal that Russia and the U.S. could potentially reach a deal to free Gershkovich. Whelan was not mentioned in the interview. "Resolved in silence" appears to mean that neither Peskov nor Putin was willing to publicly comment on the state of any negotiations.

According to a report by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, at least 53 U.S. citizens or permanent residents are currently wrongfully detained − defined as being held by foreign governments under what the U.S. considers unjust charges. China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela are responsible for most of the wrongful detentions.

Prisoner swap negotiations with Russia: Brittney Griner's were 'painstaking, extraordinary'

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Antony Blinken speaks to Paul Whelan, American detained in Russia