U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken says U.S. consular officers have not been granted access to Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is currently detained in Russia.
Speaking on April 15 during a visit to Vietnam, Blinken added that Moscow should provide access "now."
Gershkovich, the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War, and the WSJ have denied he was involved in espionage.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 30 it had detained Gershkovich in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and had opened an espionage case against him for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex.
On April 10, the U.S. State Department designated Gershkovich as being "wrongfully detained" by Russia and called for his immediate release, following earlier appeals, including from U.S. President Joe Biden.
SEE ALSO: The Week In Russia: Trial And TerrorInternational journalist organizations have also demanded Russia release Gershkovich.
Gershkovich, who hasn't been granted access to the lawyer hired by the WSJ, is being held at the FSB's Lefortovo prison, where Russia holds most suspects in espionage cases.
The FSB said on March 30 that it had opened an espionage case against Gershkovich for collecting what it said were state secrets about Russia's military industrial complex. It alleged that Gershkovich was operating on instructions from the United States.
A Moscow court agreed to a request from the FSB to hold Gershkovich under arrest for two months.
Russia might be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap with Gershkovich after his trial, a top Russian diplomat said on April 13.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state-run TASS news agency that talks about a possible exchange could take place through a dedicated channel that Russian and U.S. security agencies established for such purposes.
“We have a working channel that was used in the past to achieve concrete agreements, and these agreements were fulfilled,” Ryabkov said, adding that there was no need for the involvement of any third country.