Head of Russia's Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov (Photo: Tass).
Russian state media reported that Ramzan Kadyrov on January 5 asked the United States to lift sanctions against members of his family in exchange for the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
He made the announcement to former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter, who was visiting Grozny, the capital of Chechnya.
"We have prisoners we captured in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. I am sending this list to our guest (Mr. Ritter). If the United States lifts sanctions against my mother, my daughters, innocent people, my horses, except me, then we will return these people," Mr. Kadyrov said.
According to Tass , there is a video recording of the Ukrainian prisoners being held when the list was given to Mr. Ritter.
It is unclear why Mr Kadyrov decided to contact the US government through Mr Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector who has written regular commentary for Russian state media such as Sputnik and RT over the years.
The US has not commented on Mr Kadyrov's proposal.
The US imposed financial sanctions and a travel ban on Aymani Kadyrova, Mr Kadyrov's mother, and several other Russian individuals and entities in August last year.
Mr Kadyrov later warned that the US would face retaliation if Washington did not lift the sanctions.
Mr Kadyrov's mother was sanctioned because she heads the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, an organisation the US accuses of being involved in training Ukrainian children evacuated from war zones by Russia.
Mr Kadyrov has criticised Washington's sanctions, saying the move "shocked" him even though he was used to "unreasonable sanctions from the US and the West".
"The whole world knows that she (Mr Kadyrov's mother) does nothing but charity work," he said, arguing that Ms Kadyrova was being punished because she was his mother.
However, he claimed that the sanctions would “not be painful” for Russia and were just a measure for the US to console itself.
The Chechen Republic is a predominantly Muslim region. Although still part of the Russian Federation, the Chechen Republic has been granted considerable autonomy by Moscow.
Since Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine, Mr. Kadyrov has received a number of sanctions from the West for supporting Russia's military campaign.
In October 2022, Editor-in-Chief of the Russian Book of Records Stanislav Konenko announced on October 5 that Chechen leader Kadyrov was recognized as the person subject to the most sanctions in the world.
In addition, Mr. Kadyrov also set a record for "the highest number of sanctions in the world applied to one person, relatives and partners".
The head of Chechnya, at the time, said he was proud to be the record holder. He said the sanctions against him showed he was defending Islam, customs, traditions and the security of Russia.
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