Freed Americans return home following historic prisoner swap; Biden, Harris greet them at airport

USpresident Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greetedFormer US Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Evan Gershkovich as they stepped off the plane atJoint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday (Aug 2).

“I’m home,” Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich told his colleagues after stepping off the plane.

Around a dozen Wall Street Journal employees gathered on the tarmac in solidarity with their returning colleague.

Celebrating the release, President Biden said“It feels wonderful. It’s been a long time coming. I was absolutely confident we could get it done. I meant it when I said — alliances make a difference. They stepped up and took a chance for us, and it mattered a lot."

Speaking on the tarmac after the released Americans landed in US, Vice President Kamala Harris said it was “an incredible day.”

“I’m very thankful for our president and his efforts, especially concerning these families and individuals. His ability to bring our allies together on many issues, and particularly this one, has been significant,” Harris said.

Russia on Thursday (August 1) released imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan as part of a major prisoner swap with the United States.

The men were jailed in Russia on espionage charges that they and the US deny.

The prisoners were flown to Turkey's capital Ankara from Russia, the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus under the complex deal, the Turkish presidency said.

During an earlier White House briefing with the families of the US citizens incarcerated in Russia, President Joe Biden said, "Today, three American citizens and one American green-card holder who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia are finally coming home: Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza.

"The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy. All told, we’ve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia—including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country," the statement said.

Hailing the move, Harris said, "Over many years, President Biden and I and our team have engaged in complex diplomatic negotiations to bring these wrongfully detained Americans home. We never stopped fighting for their release. And today, in spite of all of their suffering, it gives me great comfort to know that their horrible ordeal is finally over."

Putin welcomes Russians returning to Moscow after prisoner swap

Russian nationals involved in a historicprisoner swap with Western countries arrived in Moscow late on Thursday and were greeted at the airport by President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian news agencies.

The agencies reported that the eight returnees would all be presented with state awards and quoted Putin as saying that their "homeland had not forgotten them, not for a single minute".

Obama lauds Biden for US-Russia prisoner swap

Former president Barack Obama applauded Biden's “skill and persistence” alongside that of vice president Kamala Harris and US' allies.

“It’s a tremendous diplomatic achievement, and we’re grateful that they’ll be back home with their families where they belong,” he wrote on X.

(With inputs from agencies)