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Swedish PM Demands Immediate Release of EU Employee Jailed in Iran

Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
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Swedish PM Demands Immediate Release of EU Employee Jailed in Iran

Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
Swedish EU employee Johan Floderus attends a court session in Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2023. Amir-abbas Ghasemi/MIZAN/WANA (West Asia News Agency) Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday demanded the immediate release of Swedish European Union employee Johan Floderus from prison in Iran.

Floderus was arrested in Iran in 2022. Iran said on Sunday it had begun a trial of the Swedish national, having charged him with spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime that carries the death penalty.

"He is entirely arbitrarily detained," Kristersson told a press conference. "We demand his immediate release."

Relations between Sweden and Iran have been tense since 2019, when Sweden arrested a former Iranian official, Hamid Noury, on suspicion of torture and executions of political prisoners in Iran in the 1980s, Reuters reported.

A Swedish district court in 2022 found Noury guilty of the charges. Noury appealed the case, and an appeals court ruling is expected next week.

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Turkish, Russian Diplomats Discuss Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks, Russian Ministry Says 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a press conference in Ankara, Türkiye, February 24, 2025. (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a press conference in Ankara, Türkiye, February 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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Turkish, Russian Diplomats Discuss Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks, Russian Ministry Says 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a press conference in Ankara, Türkiye, February 24, 2025. (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a press conference in Ankara, Türkiye, February 24, 2025. (Reuters)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan spoke on Monday to discuss Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's proposal to hold direct Russian-Ukrainian talks this week in Türkiye, the Russian ministry said.

"The heads of the two ministries discussed issues linked with the initiative by Russian Federation President V.V. Putin about beginning direct talks on a Ukrainian settlement on 15th May in Istanbul," the ministry said in a statement.

A Turkish diplomatic source earlier said the two ministers had spoken, but gave no further details.

Putin issued the proposal at the weekend after European leaders met in Kyiv and urged Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in its war in Ukraine by Monday or face new sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded by saying he was prepared to meet Putin in Türkiye on Thursday.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump offered to join the prospective Ukraine-Russia talks in Türkiye.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address on Monday, said Russia had made no response to his proposal to hold talks with Putin on Thursday.

Zelenskiy said Trump supported the proposed meeting "and we would like him to find the opportunity to be in Türkiye."