Moscow freed a Russian American convicted of treason in exchange for a Russian German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S., a prisoner swap that was completed Thursday as the two countries met to repair ties. “They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” President Donald Trump said of Ksenia Karelina, who was expected to arrive back in the U.S. on Thursday evening. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.” Arthur Petrov was released as part of a swap in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's main security and counterintelligence agency. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later. Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the U.S. carried out in the last three years — and the second since Trump took office and reversed Washington's policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine. CIA director John Ratcliffe hailed “the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort.” The CIA also emphasized that “the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship.” Meanwhile, Russian and U.S. diplomats met in Istanbul for a second round of talks on normalizing embassies' work, following the first such meeting in February. The State Department said the delegations “exchanged notes to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and U.S. bilateral missions.” It said the U.S. reiterated its concerns about the Russian ban on hiring of local staff, “the key impediment to maintaining for stable and sustainable staffing levels at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow." Alexander Darchiyev, Russia’s ambassador to Washington who led Moscow’s delegation in the talks, praised their “positive atmosphere” and noted the parties agreed to continue discussions to facilitate diplomats’ travel. He added that the Russian side also pushed for a quick return of its diplomatic property seized by U.S. authorities.