According to CNN, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the White House “remains committed and committed to ensuring that we work through a successful method to secure the expeditious release of Paul Whelan.”

However, he acknowledged that it had become apparent in recent months that “what Russia was asking to secure the release of Paul Whelan was not something we could secure.”

“It’s a problem that we’re trying to solve — we have different ways that we’re working on solutions, and we’re going to work every day, starting with the president, to ultimately come up with a formula that works,” Sullivan said. told reporters, citing “the sensitivity of these issues.”

“And that’s all I can say today, but I will emphasize that our commitment to this is absolutely firm, intense, and it’s as high a priority as the president,” he added.

Sullivan later told CNN’s Phil Mattingly that administration officials “will be dealing with [federația rusă] this week” to deal with Whelan’s case, but “I’m not going to talk about it anymore because we’re trying to keep it in private channels, but that’s the schedule, and of course we regularly commit to time, and the next conversation at a high levels will take place this week.”

But he rejected the idea that the US would change any policy, including on Ukraine, in exchange for Whelan’s release.

“I can’t really answer that general question — I mean, if that means we’re going to have a different approach to Ukraine or something like that?” The answer is no. We will not have a different approach to Ukraine,” said Sullivan.

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