After the release of three U.S. citizens wrongfully detained by Russia, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Friday that Americans should understand that Moscow has issued "more than enough warnings" to keep out.
"I think what's really on our plate, though, is to make sure that people know that Russia has put more than enough warnings out to say stay out of Russia," Sessions said on "National Report." "This is the thing that we're going to have to really focus on, because the Russians have now learned this trick and that trick is grabbing Americans for any reason, trumping up the sources against them and then holding them for years at a time.
"It simply is something that desperate countries do and we need to make sure that we understand that doing business in Russia is dangerous."
The biggest prisoner exchange in post-Soviet history unfolded Thursday when Russia released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist with dual U.S.-Russia citizenship, in a multinational deal that set free 24 people.
Asked why the prisoner exchange happened now, Sessions said "all seven sides" involved in the swap "had to make sure that they were willing to accept, not only the terms and conditions, but it had a lot to do with time."
"You know, they say the success of a rain dance has a lot to do with timing, and in fact, it does in prisoner exchanges," he said.
Sessions said he doesn’t "make light of any of this" because "it had to be done."
"We needed to get our Americans back and timing has a lot to do with it," he said. "But I think that regardless of that, that is something that they've been working on for a long, long time."
Sessions also said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris "may have dealt well at the [negotiating] table," but, ultimately, they "are incapable of effectively leading America."
However, Sessions noted that, while "the price was probably high on our side," the United States "got back what we needed and that is important."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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