WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, media published a report based on Kremlin's response to the appeal of the pilot's mother Lyubov Yaroshenko claiming that Moscow was ready to exchange Yaroshenko for several US citizens sentenced to prison terms in Russia.
"As for the initiative to swap [Yaroshenko] for 13 US citizens, I am unaware of such proposal of the Russian authorities as his lawyer," Tarasov told RIA Novosti.
According to Tarasov, Yaroshenko may appeal for return to Russia in accordance with the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
"We had such plans, because Yaroshenko refused to appeal the court ruling in the Supreme Court. The time to file appeal to the Supreme Court expired last week. So his only chance to return home is the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons."
The US authorities detained Yaroshenko in Liberia in 2010 after conducting a sting operation across West Africa, and transferred the Russian pilot to the United States where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of smuggling cocaine.
