Moscow releases US-Russian former ballerina for German-Russian businessman freed by Washington.
The United States and Russia have completed a prisoner exchange in the United Arab Emirates with Moscow releasing US-Russian national Ksenia Karelina and Washington freeing German-Russian businessman Arthur Petrov.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Karelina’s lawyer confirmed the release on Thursday of the former ballet dancer, who was charged by Russia with treason.
Karelina was arrested in Russia last year and convicted of treason after making a $52 donation to a US charity aiding Ukraine in a case slammed by US authorities as “ludicrous”.
American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States.
She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 10, 2025
In return, the US released Petrov, charged with illegally smuggling military-related microelectronics to Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The report was confirmed by Russia’s FSB security service on Thursday, according to a statement cited by Russia’s state news agency Ria Novosti.
“According to the FSB, Petrov has already returned to Russia,” reported Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova’s from Moscow.
Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 and extradited to the US, where he was also charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
Thanks to UAE
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted talks for the swap in Abu Dhabi, according to a CIA official quoted by the Journal.
“Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia,” Ratcliffe told the Journal. “I’m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the government of UAE for enabling the exchange.”
It is the third high-profile prisoner exchange between the US and Russia since August and the second since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
Trump, who has sought better ties with Russia, in February praised the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel.
“We were treated very nicely by Russia,” Trump said at the time. “I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war [in Ukraine].”
Despite warming US-Russia relations, the US president has not succeeded in his pledge to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional and full ceasefire. He conditioned a proposed partial truce in the Black Sea on the West lifting certain sanctions.
US and Russian delegations met in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Thursday to discuss restoring the functioning of their embassies, but Ukraine was “absolutely not” on the agenda, according to US Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.