WH on What Stops Russia from Imprisoning More Americans: ‘Putin Has Done This Before’

On Thursday’s “PBS NewsHour,” White House NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby responded to a question on what there is to prevent Russia from imprisoning more Americans by stating, “Putin has done this before,” and Americans who want to go to Russia should consider that.

After Kirby stated that “we’ve taken a lot of actions to try to discourage exactly that, hostage-taking, by instituting new sanctions, new visa ban requirements.” Host Judy Woodruff asked, “So, what is it right now to stop the Russians from grabbing another American anywhere in Russia right now?”

Kirby responded, “Mr. Putin has done this before, Judy. This is not a new tactic for him. And I think Americans that are traveling to Russia or want to travel to Russia ought to think about that, the fact that he has done this before. And it could happen again. That’s why, again, we’ve got that designation on Russia and other countries, a detention risk. We want Americans to, if — we want them to go overseas, obviously, for pleasure or for work, but we want them to do so fully informed. What we — and we don’t want to see, of course, another American wrongfully detained in Russia or anywhere else. But, unfortunately, this is a tactic that Mr. Putin has used in the past.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett