Russia has refused all offers made by the United States so far to release the two Americans held in that country, including journalist Evan Gershkovich, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said today, calling on President Putin to “negotiate a good he believes her”.

“We have made many proposals. There is one important proposal we made a few weeks ago,” the spokesman told reporters, stressing that Moscow had “rejected” all of them. The spokesman contradicted statements by the Russian president earlier today, who said he was “hoping” for an agreement with Washington on the issue.

“We sincerely want an agreement” with Russia to release journalist Evan Gershkovich, whose Russian judiciary decided today to continue his detention, as well as ex-Marine Paul Whelan, Miller said.

“We would be happy for them to negotiate in good faith. We would be happy for them to discuss seriously with us but so far, we have seen them reject our proposals,” he said.

Vladimir Putin must now “come to the table” in negotiations and “help us reach an agreement,” the spokesman said.

The United States declined to disclose the content of this offer to Russia, but the Americans and Russians have done several prisoner exchanges in the past.

Evan Gershkovich, 32, an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal who worked for AFP in Moscow in 2021 and 2022, was arrested by Russian security services during a report in Yekaterinburg, Urals, on March 29, 2023. He is held in Lefortovo prison in Moscow.

The reporter is accused of espionage, a crime punishable by 20 years in prison, but he denies the charges, as do Washington, his newspaper, his friends and his family.

Referring more generally to the Russian president’s speech and the war in Ukraine, the US official opined that Vladimir Putin “has shown no ability or willingness to negotiate. In fact, he confirmed today that his goals for the outcome of this conflict have not changed, in any way”.