President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted the U.S. citizens freed from Russia as they arrived back on American soil at Joint Base Andrews late Thursday night.
The United States secured the release of 16 people from Russia on Thursday, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
Whelan was the first to exit the plane, with the former Marine greeting Biden by asking how he was. During their interaction, Biden gave his American flag pin off his lapel to Whelan, who had been detained in Russia since 2018.
Gershkovich also greeted Biden and Harris and received a warm embrace from his family. The Wall Street Journal reporter was taken into Russian custody in 2023 and was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison last month on spying charges, which the U.S. and his employer decried as a “sham.”
Biden was asked how it felt to have the U.S. citizens, including Whelan and Gershkovich, freed, to which he replied that it felt “wonderful” and was “a long time coming.” He also credited Germany and Slovenia specifically for the help securing their release.
“The toughest call on this one was for other countries because I asked them to do things that were against their self-interest, especially Germany and Slovenia,” Biden told reporters.
Harris also labeled it an “extraordinary day.”
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“I’m very thankful for our president and what he has done this entire career, but in particular, as it relates to these families and these individuals, what he has been able to do to bring the allies together on many issues, but in particular, this one, this is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy,” Harris told reporters.
The prisoner swap the U.S. agreed to on Thursday, which freed Whelan, Gershkovich, and others, was the largest such agreement with Russia since the Cold War.