Washington Insisting on US Prison Swap Offer Made to Russia - Official

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States is insisting on its offer to swap prisoners with Russia and urging Moscow to treat it seriously, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on Saturday.

"We've put a serious offer on the table that we think they should definitely consider," Kirby told CNN.

At the same time, he described the possible inclusion of a second Russian citizen into a possible deal as "not a serious counter-offer."

CNN reported on Friday that Russian officials had requested the US to provide a second prisoner in response to the possible prisoner exchange offer Washington made to Moscow for Americans Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner.

Russia allegedly requested earlier this month that the United States provide Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov along with Russian businessman Viktor Bout. In December, a German court convicted Krasikov of murdering former Chechen fighter Zelimkhan Khangoshvili and sentenced him to life in prison in Germany.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States are being conducted, but there is no concrete result yet.