A historic prisoner exchange of 24 detainees between seven Western countries, including the U.S., and Russia was made on Thursday.
周四,包括美国在内的七个西方国家与俄罗斯历史性地交换了24名在押人员。
That's the largest since the post-Soviet era.
这是自后苏联时代以来规模最大的一次换囚。
Three U.S. citizens, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, were released under the deal.
包括《华尔街日报》记者埃文·格什科维奇、前美国海军陆战队员保罗·惠兰在内的三名美国公民,根据协议获释。
The swap is a result of months of negotiations between several countries involved, including the U.S., Germany, and Russia.
这次交换是美国、德国和俄罗斯在内的几个相关国家数月以来进行谈判的结果。
The release of convicted Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany, was one of Russia's main requests and key to making the deal happen.
释放在德国被判无期徒刑的俄罗斯杀手瓦迪姆·克拉西科夫,是俄罗斯方面的主要诉求之一,也是达成协议的关键。

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the airport to welcome the returning Russians including Krasikov.
俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京亲自前往机场欢迎克拉西科夫等回国的俄罗斯人。
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday thanked Washington's allies by calling it a "feat of diplomacy."
与此同时,美国总统乔·拜登也于周四向华盛顿方面的盟友表示感谢,称这是“外交上的壮举”。
"The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship, friendship. Multiple countries helped get this done.
“使这一切成为可能的协议是外交和友谊的壮举。许多国家帮助完成了这项工作。
They joined a difficult, complex negotiation at my request and I personally thank them all again."
他们应我的要求加入了这一艰难而复杂的谈判,我个人再次感谢他们所有人。”
Also on Thursday, former U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the deal, raising doubts that a massive amount of money would have been paid to Russia.
同样是在周四,前美国总统唐纳德·特朗普贬低了这笔交易,引发了人们对“会把巨额资金支付给俄罗斯”的怀疑。
But, the White House said that no such money was sent and restrictions were lifted to conclude the exchange.
但白宫方面表示,为完成此次交易,其中并不涉及金钱,并取消了相关制裁。