Russia offers to swap prisoners with US: report

Russia on Monday proposed a prisoner swap with the U.S. to free pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, Interfax news agency reported.

“Free Yaroshenko, swap him for an American or Americans who are serving their sentence here,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the outlet.

{mosads}Yaroshenko is serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the country, according to Reuters.

He was reportedly arrested in 2010 in Liberia.

Russia seems to be offering a list of American nationals held in Russia, but that list was not shared by Interfax.

Ryabkov on Monday also urged the U.S. to return confiscated Russian diplomatic properties as a first step toward improving relations between the two nations.