The Kremlin announced on Thursday that it is in discussions with French officials concerning the situation of a French political scholar, who is currently serving a three-year prison term in Russia and is reportedly facing new espionage charges.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov informed reporters that Russia has extended a proposal to France regarding Laurent Vinatier. Vinatier, arrested in Moscow last year for allegedly gathering military intelligence, is now awaiting France’s response. Peskov declined to reveal any further details, citing the sensitive nature of the case.
The French Foreign Ministry chose not to comment on the matter when approached on Thursday.
Peskov’s comments followed a question from Jérôme Garro, a journalist with the French TF1 TV network. During President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference on December 19, Garro inquired whether Vinatier’s family could expect a presidential pardon or a potential prisoner exchange. In response, Putin claimed to be unaware of the case but assured that he would investigate it.
In June 2024, Vinatier was detained in Moscow, with Russian authorities accusing him of failing to register as a “foreign agent.” They allege he was collecting information on Russia’s military and technical activities, which could threaten national security. If convicted, these charges could lead to a maximum five-year prison sentence.
This arrest coincided with heightened tensions between Moscow and Paris, particularly after French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the potential deployment of French troops in Ukraine.
Vinatier’s lawyers asked the court to sentence him to a fine, but the judge in October 2024 handed him a three-year prison term — a sentence described as “extremely severe” by France’s Foreign Ministry, which called for the scholar’s immediate release.
Detentions on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia and its heavily politicized legal system since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In addition to criticizing his sentence, the French Foreign Ministry urged the abolition of Russia’s laws on foreign agents, which subject those carrying the label to additional government scrutiny and numerous restrictions. Violations can result in criminal prosecution. The ministry said the legislation “contributes to a systematic violation of fundamental freedoms in Russia, like the freedom of association, the freedom of opinion and the freedom of expression.”
Vinatier is an adviser for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization, which said in June 2024 that it was doing “everything possible to assist” him.
While asking the judge for clemency ahead of the verdict, Vinatier pointed to his two children and his elderly parents he has to take care of.
The charges against Vinatier relate to a law that requires anyone collecting information on military issues to register with authorities as a foreign agent.
Human rights activists have criticized the law and other recent legislation as part of a Kremlin crackdown on independent media and political activists intended to stifle criticism of the war in Ukraine.
In August 2025, Russian state news agency Tass reported that Vinatier was also charged with espionage, citing court records but giving no details. Those convicted of espionage in Russia face between 10 and 20 years in prison.
Russia in recent years has arrested a number of foreigners — mainly U.S. citizens — on various criminal charges and then released them in prisoner swaps with the United States and other Western nations. The largest exchange since the Cold War took place in August 2024, when Moscow freed journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, fellow American Paul Whelan, and Russian dissidents in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
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