Germany played a key role in the prisoner swap that brought "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich home from a Russian jail.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Last night, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews to welcome a group of Americans who were imprisoned in Russia.
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A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The group included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in what was the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War. It also included radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was greeted by her husband and daughters, who she hadn't been able to speak to for nine months. The occasion was also her younger daughter's 13th birthday. Here's her husband, Pavel Butorin.
PAVEL BUTORIN: And not only will Alsu find that they have grown taller, but she'll also find two young women who are more mature, more resolute about their own rights to free speech and expression as Americans.
MARTÍNEZ: This deal was months in the making and depended on several American allies, including Germany.
FADEL: And that's where NPR's Rob Schmitz joins us from right now to talk about all this. Hi, Rob.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: Good morning. So President Biden made it clear that securing the freedom of these prisoners was dependent on allies like Germany. So give us some insight on the role Germany played here.
SCHMITZ: Germany's cooperation here was crucial for the success of this deal because Germany held the most important prisoner in the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that's a man named Vadim Krasikov. Up until yesterday, he was serving a life sentence for assassinating a former Chechen rebel in broad daylight at a public park here in Berlin five years ago. After he was caught, German authorities learned that he was likely a Russian state hit man sent here on a fake passport by Russian intelligence. And as such, he was on top of Putin's wish list.
President Biden and his team, including Vice President Harris, knew about this and had met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about securing Krasikov's release in return for the group of prisoners we saw set free yesterday. Here's what President Biden said about the cooperation needed to make that deal happen yesterday.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: So for anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do. They matter. And today is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world.
SCHMITZ: And Leila, that was a not-so-subtle nod at former President Donald Trump...
FADEL: Right.
SCHMITZ: ...Now the Republican nominee, who, as president, did not place such a high value on these alliances with European countries like Germany as much as the Biden-Harris administration has.
FADEL: So it seems like the big concession really came from Germany. So how do Germans feel about the news of yesterday's prisoner exchange?
SCHMITZ: That's complicated. On one hand, Germans are relieved to have their nationals back on German soil. Russia released five Germans in this deal, one who had been sentenced to death by firing squad in Belarus and was pardoned for charges of espionage earlier this week. But on the other hand, as part of this deal, Germany released a convicted murderer back to Russia.
FADEL: Yeah.
SCHMITZ: Last night, after greeting the returned prisoners, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, quote, "nobody took this decision lightly to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years in prison."
And we know now that there was a lot of hand-wringing inside Germany's leadership about this. It's been reported that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was against this deal because of the message it would send to Putin that the West is open to negotiating with a regime that takes hostages at will. But in the end, even the biggest opposition party in parliament agreed with Scholz's decision on this, but, of course, it was not an easy one.
FADEL: Should we read further into this deal? I mean, does the fact that this prisoner swap happened at all mean that relations between the U.S., its allies and Russia are improving - could improve?
SCHMITZ: Yeah. Most political observers I'm talking to say no. I mean, when President Biden was asked this very question at the White House yesterday, he responded by saying, your lips to God's ears, meaning that he was hoping this could improve relations with Russia. But then when he was asked if he'd be willing to speak directly with Putin, his answer was really quick. He said, I don't need to speak with Putin.
FADEL: That's NPR's Central Europe correspondent Rob Schmitz. Thanks, Rob.
SCHMITZ: Thank you.
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