Cole said in an interview with the TV Rain channel that the effort also covers Ukrainian detainees, noting that civilians are held in both countries. He declined to give any timeframe for possible releases.
The envoy said he is working in contact with Steve Witkoff, who handles the Russia file, and that proposals on both categories of prisoners are being prepared.
Cole said the release of Russian political prisoners is possible and linked such a step to an improvement in relations between Moscow and Washington. He said he does not know whether Vladimir Putin would agree to it, and added that he intends to pursue the issue more closely.
Moscow and Washington have exchanged prisoners before. The largest swap took place on August 1, 2024, when Russia freed 16 people, among them opposition figures Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Lilia Chanysheva and Andrei Pivovarov, the chairman of the International Memorial council, Oleg Orlov, and artist Alexandra Skochilenko, convicted over anti-war price tags, as well as American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva.
After Trump returned to the White House, the two sides carried out two exchanges. In February 2025, Moscow freed American Marc Fogel, convicted of drug smuggling, while Washington released Alexander Vinnik, accused of laundering billions of dollars through the BTC-e crypto exchange. In April, the sides exchanged Ksenia Karelina, convicted in Russia over a $51.8 transfer to a Ukrainian charity, for Arthur Petrov, accused by US authorities of smuggling microelectronics for the Russian military industry.