Earlier in the day, a group of US senators in a letter urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Fogel's imprisonment in Russia as a wrongful detention. Fogel was working in Russia as a teacher before being sentenced on drug charges.
"The designation of wrongful detention is one that the State Department has to make and they take that very very seriously," Kirby told CNN on Tuesday. "They have not come to that conclusion. They are still working their way through this and reviewing the case."
A Russian court sentenced Fogel to 14 years in a maximum-security penal colony for bringing 17 grams of marijuana into the country.
According to the senators' letter, Fogel contends that the marijuana was intended for medicinal purposes.
The lawmakers also said the designation will enable support for the Fogel family and require the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs to work to secure his release.