“Secretary of State Antony J Blinken spoke today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Secretary Blinken conveyed the United States’ grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a US citizen journalist. The Secretary called for his immediate release. Secretary Blinken further urged the Kremlin to immediately release wrongfully detained US citizen Paul Whelan. The Secretary and Foreign Minister Lavrov also discussed the importance of creating an environment that permits diplomatic missions to carry out their work,” says a State Department press release about a call between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.