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The exchange is emblematic of a new era of state-sponsored #hostage-taking by #autocratic govts seeking #leverage over rivals. It was negotiated as tensions soared between #Russia & the West over the #war in #Ukraine.

It also offers sobering evidence of the asymmetry between the #US & Russia in this new, piratical order. #Putin can order foreigners plucked from restaurants & hotels & given lengthy prison sentences on spurious charges—something an American leader can’t do.