On Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US has made a new proposal to Russia to secure the release of Gershkovich and Whelan, but it has been rejected by Moscow.
“We do not discuss this issue publicly,” Peskov said.
Paul Whelan was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage. Whelan, who is also a citizen of Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, has maintained his innocence, insisting that he came to Russia to attend a friend's wedding.
On March 29, US citizen Evan Gershkovich was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of trying to collect classified defense information for the United States. He has since remained in custody. If found guilty, the journalist could be facing up to 20 years of imprisonment.