“No engagement directly with Putin”: White House explains prisoner exchange with Russia

Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, said this during a briefing.

"No engagement directly with Vladimir Putin.  There was extensive engagement with Russian officials over the course of this," Sullivan stated.

At the same time, he refused to provide details about the agreements, "those channels are sensitive and need to be protected for exactly this reason, because having those sensitive channels enables us to produce results like today."

According to him, it was important for U.S. President Joe Biden to conduct the prisoner exchange even despite the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

• Russia and several Western countries have exchanged prisoners: Russia has released Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and marine Paul Whelan from prison.
• On August 2, a plane carrying US citizens released in a major exchange between Russia and the West landed at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.