WASHINGTON — The family of Michigan's Paul Whelan expressed happiness Wednesday at Russia's release of another former Marine, Trevor Reed, while appearing frustrated the U.S. government has allowed their brother and son to remain in custody there for more than three years.
"Unfortunately, time is not on Paul's side," his brother David Whelan said in a Wednesday statement. "Our parents are literally not getting any younger. Our hope remains that Paul will be home so they may seem him once more. But each day that hope dims."
He also said that which American hostages get saved "is the president's choice."
"President Trump wasn't able to make those difficult decisions. It may be President Biden is unwilling to make them either," David Whelan said. "We hope we don't have to pin our hopes on another American president before someone will do the right thing for Paul."
Paul Whelan, who turned 52 last month, is from Novi. He has been in prison in Russia since his arrest at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 and later conviction on espionage charges that he's vehemently denied.
Whelan is now serving a 16-year sentence of hard labor at a prison camp in Mordovia. U.S. officials have long labeled his detention "wrongful" and pressed for his release, as well as that of Reed. Both men are former Marines who traveled to Russia as tourists.
President Joe Biden announced Reed's release Wednesday, saying the negotiations required "difficult decisions that I do not take lightly."
"We won't stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends," Biden said in a statement.
David Whelan said Reed's release was "the event that we hope for so much in our own lives," and that the news sparked "varied" emotions and many questions for his family.
"(I)f this case required 'difficult decisions that' the President doesn't take lightly, how difficult are the decisions he faces to release Paul? And if not now, when one deal has been struck with Russia, then when? How much harder will a second agreement be?" he said.
"Is President Biden's failure to bring Paul home an admission that some cases are too hard to solve? Is the Administration's piecemeal approach picking low hanging fruit? And how does a family know that their loved one's case is too difficult, a hostage too far out of reach?"
The U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to questions about any ongoing negotiations for Whelan's release.
David Whelan noted that Biden officials have engaged in more outreach with the Whelan family than the Trump administration did, noting that interactions with Secretary Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan "meant something to our family."
"If nothing else, on this day when my twin brother continues to suffer a gross injustice in Russia and another American is freed from injustice, I am confident President Biden cares and his team is making an effort," he said.
"Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for Paul."
The U.S. House is scheduled Wednesday to vote on a resolution by Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., demanding Whelan's release from Russia, saying he was "wrongfully convicted" in 2020 and calling his situation a "travesty to justice."
