"He was charged with committing an offense under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Russia, that is, espionage," the ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told a briefing.
READ MORE: Kremlin on Potential Butina-Whelan Exchange: Russia Never Uses People as Pawns
8 January 2019, 09:30 GMT
"I would also like to emphasize that at present, there are no talks on exchanging Paul Whelan for anyone in custody abroad. There are a lot of fake media reports and speculations on the issue, so now I am voicing Russia's official position," the spokeswoman added.
Paul Whelan, a former US marine, officially employed as director of global security for a Michigan-based automotive parts supplier, was detained in Moscow on December 28, with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) filing a criminal case against him over allegations of espionage, he faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
The detainee, who also holds Irish, Canadian and UK citizenship, claims that he came to Moscow to attend a friend’s wedding.
