Category: swap

Kremlin Open to Talks Over Potential Prisoner Swap Involving Detained US Reporter Evan Gershkovich

MOSCOW—The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the United States regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye. Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Mr. Gershkovich, who has been held…


US Calls Iran’s Prisoner Swap Claim a ‘Cruel Lie’

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Iran’s top diplomat claimed Sunday that a prisoner swap was near with the United Stats, though he offered no evidence to support his assertion. The United States immediately dismissed his comments as a “cruel lie.” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has made similar comments in the past about possible deals with the…


FX Swap Debt a $80 Trillion ‘Blind Spot’ Global Regulator Says

LONDON—Pension funds and other ‘non-bank’ financial firms have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt in FX swaps, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said. The BIS, dubbed the central bank to the world’s central banks, also said in its latest quarterly report that 2022’s market upheaval had largely been navigated without…


Russian Diplomat Says Prisoner Swap With US Remains Possible

MOSCOW—Russia and the United States have repeatedly been on the verge of agreement on a prisoner exchange, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday, adding that a deal is still possible before the year’s end. The Biden administration has been trying for months to negotiate the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American jailed…


US Still Talking to Russia About Griner and Whelan Release: Diplomat

LONDON—The United States is still talking to Russia about a deal to free jailed Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan but Moscow has not provided a “serious response” to any of its proposals, a senior U.S. diplomat said in comments published on Monday. Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. chargée d’affaires in Moscow, told Russia’s state-owned RIA…


US Still Talking to Russia About Release of Griner, Whelan: Diplomat

LONDON—The United States is still talking to Russia about a deal to free jailed Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, although Moscow hasn’t provided a “serious response” to any of its proposals, a senior U.S. diplomat said in comments published on Nov. 28. Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. chargée d’affaires in Moscow, told Russia’s state-owned RIA…


After Griner Gets Jail, Russia Ready to Discuss Prisoner Swap With US

MOSCOW—Russia said on Friday it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with the United States in private, a day after a Russian court jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for nine years for a drugs offence. The case against Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, plunged her…


Israel to Ship 700,000 Pfizer Doses to South Korea in Swap Deal

JERUSALEM—Israel is sending 700,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to South Korea in exchange for a future shipment of vaccines from South Korea to Israel. Under the deal, Israel will transfer the Pfizer vaccines to South Korea in an effort to inoculate more of the Asian nation’s citizens this month. South Korea will send the same number…


US Denies Iran’s Claims of Prisoner, Cash Swap; UK Downplays

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—The United States on Sunday immediately denied a report by Iranian state-run television that deals had been reached for the Islamic Republic to release U.S. and British prisoners in exchange for Tehran receiving billions of dollars. Even after an initial American denial, an anchorwoman on Iranian state TV still repeated the announcement….