Last night, former US President Donald Trump "congratulated" Russian President Vladimir Putin on the large exchange of prisoners between Russia, Belarus and several Western countries, asking if the "terrible deal" had not set a precedent.

- I would like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for doing another great thing. They released some of the biggest killers in the world. They brought back some of the most evil killers. We got our people back, but man, we made some terrible, terrible deals. And it's nice to say we got them back, but did that set a bad precedent? he asked.

In the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West, the journalist Gershkovich was released, but also the hired killer Krasikov.

In an unprecedented prisoner exchange, Russia and Belarus released 16 people who had been jailed, among other things, for their journalistic work and activism.

In return, 10 people were handed over to Moscow from prisons in various Western countries.
Several countries were involved in the exchange, with two high-profile American citizens – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan – returning home.

As part of the deal, the Russian Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to life in prison in Germany for the murder of a Georgian man of Chechen origin in 2021 in the heart of Berlin, was also released.
The agreement was reached by the government of US President Joe Biden, with the help of Germany and other allies.

Trump pointed to his own record of returning US citizens held in prisons abroad during his presidency, noting "I never paid anything."
The Republican presidential nominee had already attacked the mega-deal with Russia shortly after the news broke on Thursday, implying without any evidence that money had been paid to achieve it.

Europeans must come to an agreement with either Trump or Putin