Tucker Carlson asks Putin to release journalist Evan Gershkovich

Putin, speaking to U.S. television host Tucker Carlson, said Russian and American special services were discussing the case and had made some progress.

Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and accused of trying to obtain defence secrets. He and his newspaper strongly reject the charges and the U.S. government has designated him as wrongfully detained.

Russia and the United States have agreed high-profile prisoner swaps in the past - most recently in December 2022 when Moscow traded Brittney Griner, a U.S. basketball star convicted of a drugs offense in Russia, for Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.