US President Joe Biden embraces the 12-year-old daughter of Aslu Kurmasheva as he speaks about the prisoner exchange with Russia, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 1, 2024. Biden hailed the prisoner swap with Russia that saw the return of US journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan on Thursday as a "feat of diplomacy" that has ended their "agony." (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)