Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, has urged leaders from both Russia and the United States to focus on initiating a new series of prisoner exchanges during their forthcoming meeting in Alaska.
“In the wake of your discussions, the outcome is uncertain for both you and us. It might lead to significant changes, or it could be forgotten in short order. However, there is a way to ensure that this summit is remembered, regardless of the results,” Navalnaya expressed in a video message shared on social media on Friday.
“To make this happen, you need to take a decisive action, something that cannot be reversed… Specifically, you should initiate a fresh round of prisoner exchanges,” she emphasized.
Navalnaya pointed out that an in-person meeting presents a unique chance to negotiate a deal without the lengthy “shuttle diplomacy” process, by simply “exchanging lists” of those to be swapped.
“I’m aware that those lists have already been compiled,” she noted.
The opposition activist, whose husband died under mysterious conditions in a remote prison last year, requested the release of Russian political prisoners and journalists, as well as Ukrainian individuals caught in the Russian penal system.
“This action will be significant in history… Please, just take it,” Navalnaya urged.
Since President Donald Trump assumed office earlier this year, Washington and Moscow have successfully executed two prisoner swaps.
In February, the U.S. managed to secure the freedom of Marc Fogel, an American educator imprisoned in Russia on drug-related charges, in exchange for Russian cryptocurrency figure Alexander Vinnik.
In April, Ksenia Karelina, a U.S.-Russian dual citizen who was jailed for a minor donation to a charity for Ukrainians, was exchanged for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen apprehended by the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics to Russia.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Trump are scheduled to convene at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, beginning at 10:30 p.m. Moscow time (11:30 a.m. local), with discussions set to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has lasted for more than three years.
