Margret Johnson of Radio Free Europe looks at the efforts to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from a Russian prison.

Johnson writes, “Conti said there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes activity on the diplomatic front, while publicly, Gershkovich’s case has been raised directly with President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, most notably by U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson in an interview in February.

“Putin told Carlson that an agreement could be reached involving a swap for a Russian national currently in jail in Germany, which was believed to be a reference to Vadim Krasikov, who is serving time for murder in Berlin.

“Conti said the comment indicated ‘an expressed willingness to do a trade of some sort,’ but on the other hand it created a ‘despicable’ scenario in which an honest journalist must be dealt for a convicted criminal.

“The process of ‘trading humans’ is a difficult business, Conti said, but ‘that’s kind of where we are.’”

Read more here.