The Kremlin announced on Thursday it is engaging in discussions with French officials concerning the fate of a French academic who is currently imprisoned in Russia. The scholar, serving a three-year sentence, is reportedly facing additional charges of espionage.

According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Russia has extended a proposal to France regarding Laurent Vinatier, who was detained in Moscow last year. Vinatier was found guilty of gathering military-related information. Peskov mentioned that the decision now lies with France, though he withheld further specifics due to the sensitivity of the situation.

In response, the French Foreign Ministry declined to make any comments on the matter as of Thursday.

Peskov’s statements followed questions from Jérôme Garro, a journalist from the French TF1 TV channel, during President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference on December 19. Garro inquired if Vinatier’s family could anticipate a presidential pardon or his inclusion in a prisoner swap. President Putin claimed ignorance about the case but assured that he would review it.

Vinatier was taken into custody in Moscow in June 2024. Russian officials accused him of not registering as a “foreign agent” while he was allegedly collecting information on Russia’s military and technical operations, which could potentially harm national security. The accusations could lead to a prison sentence of up to five years if proven.

The arrest came as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying 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.