Russia responds to UK warning not to use detained ‘spy’ as diplomatic pawn

‘In Russia we do counter-espionage activities, directed against people suspected of espionage’

A Russian flag flies next to the US embassy building in Moscow, Russia (EPA)

The Kremlin has denied it is holding British national Paul Whelan as collateral for a diplomatic trade.

Responding to a statement made by British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, which warned Russia against using Mr Whelan as a “diplomatic pawn”, Vladimir Putin’s official spokesperson Dmitry Peskov insisted Russia was driven only by reasons of internal security.

“In Russia we have never used people as pawns in diplomatic games,” he said. “In Russia we do counter-espionage activities, directed against people suspected of espionage. And we do this on a regular basis.”

The Kremlin spokesperson said he had no comment to make on the possibility of a swap with Russian national Maria Butina. Ms Butina pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent in the United States in mid December, a mere two weeks before Mr Whelan was arrested, fuelling suggestions that Mr Whelan had been arrested as leverage in negotiations for her release.

The prospect of a swap has been underlined by Mr Whelan’s own lawyer. In comments made to The Daily Beast, Vladimir Zherebenkov said his client’s best chances lay in a trade “to bring home at least one Russian soul”.

The appointment of Mr Zherebrenkov is one of many peculiar aspects of the case.

Activists say he is known for close collaboration with the state – an accusation the lawyer rejects. One of his previous clients, London-based mobile phone magnate Yevgeny Chichvarkin, told The Independent that he removed Mr Zherebrenkov soon after taking him on, over “suspicions of collaborating with the Russian secret services”.

Mr Whelan, a former US marine, holds passports of four countries: the United States, UK, Canada and Ireland.

He served in the US Marines, but was discharged dishonourably in 2008, after which he became a security consultant for an automobile company.

There are few confirmed details of his arrest. In a statement immediately on charging, Russia’s security agency said the arrest took place in Moscow on 28 December. But other than this, official statements have been limited, and there has been no video evidence released by authorities, which is unusual.

Last week, a news agency with links to Russia’s security agency reported Mr Whelan was detained in a central Moscow hotel after being handed a USB flash drive by a “recruit”.

In comments to The Independent, the former head of Russia operations for the CIA said Mr Whelan’s arrest reminded him of the “set-up” arrest of Washington Post journalist Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, which came days after the arrest of a Soviet KGB officer in New York.

Mr Daniloff was arrested in Moscow after a contact handed him a package which, as later transpired, contained classified material. The journalist later claimed Soviet officials apologised to him after admitting he had been part of a grand game between intelligence agencies.

Speaking via his lawyer, Mr Whelan has denied charges made against him. His twin brother David Whelan said he had travelled to Moscow for the wedding of a fellow former Marine. His brother’s innocence was “undoubted”, he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Whelan is being held in Lefortovo, one of Russia’s most infamous prisons. But without a decision taken at the highest level, he is likely to stay there for a long time.

According to lawyer Mr Zherebenkov, the case will take at least six months to reach court.