Russia to allow US access to detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich on reciprocal basis

Ambassador Lynne Tracy was able to visit Gershkovich this week for only second time since he was detained in March on espionage charges.

Russia will allow the US ambassador to Moscow to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich "on a reciprocal basis", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in March while on a reporting trip and accused of espionage, stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his detention, in Moscow, Russia June 22, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina//File Photo (REUTERS)

Ambassador Lynne Tracy was able to visit Gershkovich this week for only the second time since he was detained in March on espionage charges, which he, his employer and Washington all deny.

Russian embassy staff were given access on the same day to Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian national in pre-trial detention in Ohio on cybercrime charges.

The Kremlin said this week there were "certain contacts" with the United States over Gershkovich's case but "they must be carried out and continued in complete silence".