The US ambassador to Russia was granted permission today to meet jailed Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, the US newspaper reported. This is the second such visit since he was remanded in custody in March on charges of rioting, which he denies.

A judge on Thursday rejected a request to release the 31-year-old American journalist from a Moscow prison pending trial. Ambassador Lynn Tracy accused Russia of “hostage diplomacy.”

Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in March and accused by Russia’s FSB security service of gathering classified military intelligence in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. The US claims that he is being held badly and is demanding his release. If convicted of espionage, the Wall Street Journal reporter could face up to 20 years in prison.

The newspaper did not provide details about Tracy’s meeting with Gershkowitz. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tracy last met with Gershkowitz in April, following his arrest on March 29.

Russia has reached deals with the US in the past for prisoner swaps, most recently last December when Moscow released American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been arrested for smuggling cannabis oil into the country, in exchange for the Russian trader of arms Victor Butt.

Moscow has said no exchange can be made in the Gershovitch case until the verdict is handed down. So far no date has been set for his trial.

The journalist is being held at a time when Washington’s relations with Moscow are at their worst since the Cold War following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.