ADVERTISEMENTA Russian-American ex-ballerina freed by Moscow arrived back in the US late Thursday as part of a prisoner swap completed as the two countries continue to repair ties.
She was released earlier in the day in exchange for a Russian-German national, Arthur Petrov, who’d been jailed in the US on electronics smuggling charges.
Karelina was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg last February and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about €47 to a charity aiding Ukraine.
“They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” US President Donald Trump said at his cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The release followed conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump added.
The FSB, which said Putin had pardoned Karelina before the swap, released a video showing her being escorted to a plane somewhere in Russia.
The footage then featured what appeared to be the scene of an exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport, with Petrov walking off a plane and shaking hands with Russian officials on the tarmac.
Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the Kremlin’s all-out war in Ukraine.
Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the US carried out in the last three years — and the second since Trump took office and reversed Washington’s policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
“The exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship,» the CIA said.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on X, “President Trump and his administration continue to work around the clock to ensure Americans detained abroad are returned home to their families.”
Meanwhile, Russian and US diplomats met in Istanbul for a second round of talks on normalising embassies’ work, following the first meeting in February.
The US State Department said the delegations “exchanged notes to finalise an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and US bilateral missions.”
It said the US reiterated its concerns about the Russian ban on hiring of local staff, “the key impediment to maintaining stable and sustainable staffing levels at the US Embassy in Moscow.»
