'That’s not the plan right now,' says Biden on the arrest of Evan Gershkovich

The US Administration has not been planning to expel any of the Russian diplomats ascribed to the United States in response to the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, reported TASS news agency. Evan Gershkovich is the Wall Street Journal correspondent, who has been recently arrested by the Russians. This statement has been made by US President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday before travelling to Mississippi.

"That’s not the plan right now," said Biden, when questioned by a reporter if the US would be expelling Russian diplomats over the detention of US citizen Gershkovich. Recently, President Joe Biden has asked to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, on Friday, after the country’s security service arrested him on espionage charges, allegations that the newspaper denies. “Let him go,” said Biden at the White House on Friday morning to respond to Russia's arrest of Gershkovich. The charges against Gershkovich, pushed by Russia’s Federal Security Service, are that he has been trying to obtain classified information. It is the first time since the Cold War that an American journalist has been detained on accusations of spying. The Journal though has said it “vehemently denies” the charges, reported AP.

Russia arrests US journalist 

According to the Russian Security Service’s (FSB) Public Relations Center, Evan Gershkovich, "acting at the behest of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of an enterprise within Russia’s military-industrial complex." As per the TASS News Agency, the reporter has been detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. An investigation has been opened by the FSB investigators against the US citizen under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). Meanwhile, the Moscow spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov said that the journalist had been "caught red-handed."

Further, the journal itself has released a press statement highlighting the deep concern for the safety of Gershkovich. Gershkovich has been covering Russia from his post at the newspaper’s Moscow bureau, reads the statement. Further, the statement read, "The Biden Administration will have to consider diplomatic and political escalation. Expelling Russia’s ambassador to the US, as well as all Russian journalists working here, would be the minimum to expect."