"Putin's Stance on Detained Journalists and Ukrainian Talks"

The Kremlin refused to confirm whether a convicted hitman who killed a former Chechen fighter in Berlin was a Russian agent, following President Vladimir Putin's suggestion of a three-way prisoner exchange involving the hitman, a Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Moscow, and a person serving a sentence in a U.S.-allied country. Putin hinted at the possibility of a deal but called on the United States to meet Russian demands, while his spokesman declined to answer whether the hitman was an FSB agent. This comes amid accusations from Washington about Moscow's use of American citizens as bargaining chips for the release of Russian spies abroad.