“There were appropriate contacts between our side and the French.

“Indeed, a proposal was made to the French regarding Vinatier,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, without providing details.

“The ball is now in France’s court,” he added.

Vinatier, who works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and was jailed in June 2024, is serving a three-year sentence for failing to register as a “foreign agent” but faces fresh allegations of spying.

Vinatier’s family have rejected the accusations against him, saying he is a victim of tensions between Moscow and Paris over the war in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin said last week he would look into the case after a French journalist asked him about it during an end-of-year televised press conference.

“I don’t know anything about this case. This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Putin said.

“But I promise you I’ll definitely find out what it is. And if there’s even the slightest chance of resolving this matter favourably, if Russian law allows it, we’ll make every effort,” Putin said.

Vinatier is one of several Westerners to have been arrested after Putin launched an all-out offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

Several US citizens have been arrested and then released in prisoner exchanges brokered by both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden.

In court hearings on his original case, Vinatier, a veteran Russia expert, said he had not known he was required to register with the authorities under Moscow’s “foreign agents” law, which is widely used to target and sideline critics of the Kremlin.

He apologised and said through his work he had always tried to represent Russia’s interests in international relations.

Moscow has used alleged breaches of the “foreign agents” law to arrest people before hitting them with more serious charges – as happened to Vinatier.