MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - Seventeen U.S. citizens are currently being held at facilities of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN); their list has been forwarded to the Russian Foreign Ministry, FSIN Public Council member Eva Merkacheva told Interfax.
"The FSIN has handed over these lists [of U.S. citizens] to the Foreign Ministry. In all, there are 17 U.S. citizens on these lists. Nine of them are being held in penal colonies and another eight at detention centers," Merkacheva said.
She did not rule out that the transfer of the list may be linked to a possible prisoner swap between the two countries.
A large number of people from this list have dual citizenship, Merkacheva said.
"As far as I know, eight of them have U.S. and Russian citizenship, and one has U.S. and Armenian citizenship," she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are expected to touch upon a possible prisoner exchange between the two countries at their meeting underway in Geneva on Wednesday.
Putin said he is ready to discuss with his U.S. counterpart a possible swap of inmates being held in these two countries, but also spoke in favor of negotiating a relevant agreement between Russia and the U.S.