"Anxious call for the event": Putin personally approved the arrest of WSJ journalist, - the media

The material says Putin believes that there is no return to stable and reliable relations with Europe and the US. He listens to the so -called "hawks" in the Kremlin, which consider confrontation with Washington irreversible. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest of the American reporter WSJ Evan Gershkovich on charges of alleged "espionage". It happened for the first time since the Cold War. About it writes Bloomberg.

According to journalists, the approval of this step by the Russian president reflects the growing influence of Kremlin supporters of the hard line, which insist on deepening confrontation with Washington. The resistance from the USA "hawks" in the Kremlin is considered irreversible. The initiative of Hershkovich's arrest, according to the material, came from special services staff.

According to Alina Polyakova, the President of the European Policy Analysis Center in Washington, it says that Putin believes that there is no return to stable and reliable relations with the West. "It should be a real anxious call not only for the US but for the whole event," she said. The publication writes that Russia's war with Ukraine has been going on for the second year. Because of this, Russian propaganda tries to submit it as an existential fight against the West.

Recall that 31-year-old Gershkovich was detained on March 30 in Yekaterinburg staff of the Federal Security Service (FSB). He is accused of espionage, which entails a 20-year punishment, he is now held in the Moscow prison Lefortovo, and so far Russia has not provided consular access to the United States. Then on April 7, Evan Gershkovich was officially accused of espionage.