Paul has been held hostage for 2,000 days by the Russian government [6/19/2024]. He has completed one-third of his 16 year sentence. The US government does not seem any further ahead than in those hopeful days of December 2022, when they were immediately going to redouble their efforts:

"The president's focused. The secretary's focused. We're meeting today, Monday morning, to go through the next steps of the strategy, but Paul, we haven't forgotten you, we're coming to get you," [Ambassador Roger] Carstens added." [12/22/2022]

False promises. False hopes.

The reality is that the US does not appear to have made more than one offer to secure Paul's release since then and that was in late 2023. It's become harder to know, though, as the White House has reduced the information they make available to our family. A primary goal of PPD-30 was to ensure that the family was kept as informed as possible about what, if any, efforts were being made:

PPD-30 commits the U.S. Government to work closely with hostage families, in a coordinated manner, and to proactively share as much information as possible with families while being mindful of the need to protect the safety of hostages, the integrity of any recovery efforts and any ongoing criminal investigations, as well as intelligence sources and methods. Report on US Hostage Policy, 2015

This was enacted in the Levinson Act and lives within the responsibilities of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs' duties (22 USC §1471a(c)(5)).  Information sharing that used to happen has stopped.  Doors that used to be open are shut.

Paul seems to be keeping his wits about him. The recent UK consular visit [5/14/2024] shook loose a box of books that were sent to him last December and arrived at the prison on January 3d, then promptly disappeared. Paul was finally given the books in late May by the prison staff. Reading continues to be a welcome distraction from the injustice he suffers every day.

Our family recently had a phone call with Ambassador Tracy. Like her consular staff, we remain grateful for the Ambassador's support of Paul and our family. But we also made it clear that calling Paul's case a "priority" of the White House had caused the word to lose all meaning. Paul's case does not appear to be a priority. Or the people who say it is use that word in a very different way from how it's defined. This strong consular support, weak White House support hearkens back to Paul's first 1,000 days.

Elizabeth will be heading back to D.C. in July to try to shake some of those door handles and see if they open again. It will be her first opportunity to use the funding recently approved by Congress (amendments to the Levinson Act (22 USC §1741 (d)(2)(A))) to help families of hostages get to Washington to advocate for their loved ones. A small step forward for families.

But not for Paul. He remains standing still.

Thank you for continuing to follow Paul's case. As always, if you are able to include the mailing address in any coverage, Paul would welcome any cards and letters.

American Citizen Services/PNW
Consular Section
5430 Moscow Place
Department of State
Washington, DC 20521-5430