US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a call on Sunday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had arrested Gershkovich, accusing him of gathering information about a Russian defence company that was a state secret.
The Wall Street Journal has denied Gershkovich was spying. The White House has called the espionage charge, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years, “ridiculous”.
“Secretary Blinken conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a US citizen journalist. The Secretary called for his immediate release,” the US Department of State said in a statement that did not mention Gershkovich by name.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters news agency, said the statement did refer to Gershkovich.
