Moscow: Blinken Has Called Lavrov to Discuss WSJ Reporter's Arrest

The two diplomats had a brief conversation last month, after Blinken requested a meeting with Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi. At the time, they discussed Ukraine and strategic stability, focusing on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.

The ministry has stated that the top diplomats discussed the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia earlier this week on espionage charges.

During the phone call, Lavrov told Blinken that the WSJ journalist attempted to gather information classified as a state secret.

As Blinken called for Gershkovich to be "immediately released," the Russian foreign minister stressed the need to respect the decisions made by the Russian authorities, adding that the reporter's fate will be decided by court.

On March 30, WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information for the US, with a Moscow court ordering him to be detained for two months on espionage charges.

According to the FSB, Gershkovich, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has repeatedly stated that Moscow will provide consular access to the arrested journalist in accordance with internal procedures.

Following the arrest of Gershkovich, the WSJ has called on the US authorities to consider retaliatory measures, such as the expulsion of the Russian ambassador and all Russian journalists working in the United States. For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that all journalists who have valid accreditation in Russia can and will continue their journalistic activities in the country, noting that they do not face any restrictions.