Moscow in contact with US over Whelan case – Foreign Ministry

Russia is responding in detail to US counterparts to questions on the case of Paul Whelan, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, adding that “this is diplomatic practice.”

“We really are in contact with American colleagues, with the embassy,” she told reporters. This topic is being discussed during meetings or contacts between the Foreign Ministry and the US State Department, Zakharova said in Moscow.

The investigation is currently underway, she said. This is “a matter for law enforcement agencies," and “there is no political component here,” Zakharova stressed.

Andrea Kalan, spokesperson at the US Embassy in Moscow, tweeted earlier on Wednesday that, according to Whelan, “investigators have threatened him.” Kalan said that officials at the pre-trial detention center Lefortovo “block human rights defenders from communicating with him about these threats.”