Biden thanks Duda as historic Russia-West prisoner swap unfolds

The Presidential Palace shared the information about the conversation on social media late Thursday evening.

"This evening, U.S. President Joe Biden called President Andrzej Duda to thank Poland for its assistance in the release of American citizens unlawfully imprisoned in Russia," stated the Office of the President.

The statement added that during the conversation, "the presidents emphasized the strength of allied bonds and the strategic partnership between Poland and the United States."

In Ankara on Thursday, there was the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries since the Cold War, according to international agencies. As reported by the Turkish service Anatolia, the operation involved 24 individuals from prisons in seven countries, including Poland, and two children.

The communication department at the Turkish president's office conveyed that the exchange included individuals from prisons in the "USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus."

Ten prisoners, including two minors, were relocated to Russia, thirteen to Germany, and three to the USA.

Among those who exchanged were "The Wall Street Journal" correspondent Evan Gershkovich, former soldier Paul Whelan, who had been sentenced to 16 years in Russia, and anti-Kremlin opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.

The White House had earlier confirmed that they were trying to secure the release of Navalny, who died on February 16 in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle. Among those released in the prisoner exchange were three activists who had led Navalny's campaigns in various regions of Russia: Lilia Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin, and Ksenia Fadeyeva.

Putin signed decrees pardoning all prisoners who were exchanged for Russians held in the West.