NIZHNY NOVGOROD. Nov 8 (Interfax) - There are no talks between Russia and the United States on transferring U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who has been convicted of espionage in Russia, to his home country, Whelan's lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told Interfax.
"To my knowledge, there are no talks at the moment, including on the possible exchange, transfer, or pardon of Whelan. Everything has been put on hold," Zherebenkov said.
In his opinion, the reason for this is that the United States "views Whelan as a hostage," he said.
"Whelan will hardly be transferred to the United States if the U.S. side doesn't recognize the sentence handed down to Whelan in Russia," Zherebenkov said.