In interview ahead of Biden meeting, Putin called a US Marine veteran imprisoned in Russia a 'drunk' who 'got himself s---faced'
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Bill Bostock
Jun 15, 2021, 19:58 IST
A composite image of former US Marine Trevor Reed and Russian President Vladimir Putin.DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images/NBC News
Trevor Reed got a long prison sentence over claims he drunkenly assaulted Moscow police officers.
Joe Biden is expected to bring up Reed's case while meeting with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
In an NBC News interview this week, Putin called Reed "just a drunk" who "got himself s---faced."
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During a recent interview, Russian President Vladimir Putin called a US Marine veteran who is imprisoned in Russia a "drunk" who "got himself s---faced and started a fight."
Trevor Reed was sentenced last July to nine years in prison after being convicted of assaulting two Russian police officers while drunk in 2019. Last month he tested positive for COVID-19 in prison.
John Sullivan, the US ambassador to Russia, called the case against the 29-year-old "flimsy," and Reed's family has called on President Joe Biden to intervene.
But in an interview with NBC News that aired Monday, Putin said Reed's sentence was fair and labeled him a drunk.
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"Your guy - the - Marine - he's just a drunk and - a troublemaker," Putin said, according to an NBC News translation. "As they say here - he got himself - shitfaced and - started a fight. Among other things, he - he hit a cop. It's - it's nothing. It's just a common crime. There is nothing to it."
Putin did eventually tell the interviewer Keir Simmons, however, that he was open to a prisoner swap.
In an interview with CNN's "New Day" later Monday, Reed's parents called Putin's remarks "offensive" and "difficult to hear" and called on Biden to bring him home.
"He's being held as a pawn to try and leverage concessions in a political dispute between our two countries in which he has no part," Paula and Joey Reed wrote in a statement, per CNN.
Biden has not addressed Reed's case publicly, but the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said in May that the US had raised the case "at the highest level," Reuters said.
"The secretary reiterated President Biden's resolve to protect American citizens and act firmly in defense of US interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies," the State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. "This includes the release of Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed so that they are able to return home to their families in the US."
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