White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opened Friday’s briefing by acknowledging the 100 days that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been in Russian custody and broadcasting a message to him and fellow detainee Paul Whelan to “keep the faith.”

I want to acknowledge that today marks 100 days since Evan Gershkovich was wrongfully detained by Russian authorities. The world knows that the charges against Evan are baseless; he was arrested in Russia during the course of simply doing his job as a journalist. And he is being held by Russia for leverage because he is an American. The President has been very clear that we have no higher priority than securing the release of Evan, Paul Whelan, and all Americans wrongfully detained abroad. The team continues to work on these cases every day from all angles. Our message to Evan and to Paul is this: keep the faith — we won’t stop until you are home.

Also at Friday’s briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he met with Evan’s employer and family members to discuss the status of his case. Sullivan told reporters:

We did see the comments from the Kremlin that there have been contacts between the U.S. and Russia regarding Evan and other unjustly detained Americans. It is true, and we have said that we remain in contact with Russian authorities at high levels on these cases to try to figure out a way to bring unjustly detained Americans home, including Evan. We have also made clear for months now — even before Evan was detained, as we are dealing with Paul Whelan — that we are prepared to do hard things in order to get our citizens home, including getting Evan home. I do not want to give false hope. What the Kremlin said earlier this week is correct, there have been discussions. But those discussions have not produced a clear pathway to a resolution.

Gershkovich was charged by Russia in March with spying on behalf of the United States government. Whelan, a former Marine, has been sentenced to 16 years on spying charges. The Kremlin has suggested that they may be considering a prisoner swap involving a Russian national who was extradited to the U.S. for alleged cybercrimes.

Watch the White House briefing clip above.

The post ‘Keep The Faith’: Karine Jean-Pierre Broadcasts White House Message To Russian Detainees Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan first appeared on Mediaite.

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