For a man who is allegedly backed into a corner, Vladimir Putin keeps finding new forms of leverage through sheer ruthlessness. The arrest and detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, on nonsensical charges of espionage are an outrage. But right now, every U.S. media organization that has employees in Russia is asking itself whether it is safe to keep those reporters there. If those American citizens choose to stay in Russia, they present additional potential bargaining chips for Putin. If those American citizens choose to leave, the world will be deprived of many first-hand accounts of what life is really like in Putin’s Russia — reducing competition for Putin’s propaganda efforts. Either way, Putin wins; either way, those news organizations and the rest of the world lose.
As I wrote after the U.S. traded notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner, “by giving Putin what he wants, we make other Americans in Russia more likely to be detained and used as bargaining chips in the future.” Well, here we are again. Putin got what he wanted the last time he arrested an American on trumped-up charges. Why wouldn’t Putin try the same move again?