Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is being held in a Russian prison on the charge of espionage. The way the Russian justice system is step up, it may be months before he has any hopes of going to trial.

Why do I say he likely wants a trial as soon as possible? Because in April, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told TASS, the state news agency, that a prisoner swap for Evan is only possible after a Russian court has handed down a verdict on the espionage allegation against him. It seems to be standard procedure in the Biden administration to make prisoner swaps for the release of Americans detained overseas. I’m old enough to remember when Americans didn’t negotiate for Americans held overseas, especially not with terrorists. Times have changed, especially in Biden’s America.

So, a trial that comes sooner rather than later is in Evan’s best interests as far as hoping to get released and returning home goes. The Wall Street Journal has been stellar when it comes to keeping his story in the public’s mind through articles in its newspaper.

Evan was detained on March 29, about five months ago. No date has been announced for his trial.

He is 31-years-old and he worked out of the Moscow bureau of the Wall Street Journal. He was detained during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg. The U.S. government, the Wall Street Journal, and Evan all deny that he is a spy. He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison. Evan’s pretrial detention was originally set to expire on May 29. Then it was extended to August 30 by request of the Federal Security Service, or FSB. Last week the latest extension happened. A Russian judge granted investigators’ request that Evan remain in prison until November 30. He potentially may be detained for at least eight months before his trial gets underway.

He may receive more extensions. It’s possible. Russian lawyers on previous espionage cases say that under Russian law, pretrial detentions can be extended every three months up to a year. It can go on for a total of 18 months with extensions. During that time, prosecutors and investigators put together their case. In other words, the Russian justice system is built to stall. In Evan’s case, Russian legal experts expect the FSB to stall on the pretrial phase for as long as possible. That is because espionage is a serious charge and it provides leverage for Moscow against the United States as relations deteriorate over U.S. involvement in Ukraine.

Currently, the United States has designated Evan and Paul Whelan as wrongfully detained. This allows the U.S. government to have greater access in efforts to get them released. Whelan has been held since 2018. Evan is the first American journalist arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War. Biden said it is “totally illegal.” Thanks, Joe. That ought to do it.

U.S. officials anticipate the case to go slowly. Russians usually plan things like prison releases in relation to political events. In the Brittney Griner case, she was held in hopes of racheting up tensions ahead of the midterm elections. She was released in early December on a prisoner swap for Russia’s notoriously evil arms dealer, Victor Bout. The same officials think Putin will be willing to do a prisoner swap for Evan after the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Russia’s playbook is to wait for the other side to show its hand first. Then Russia moves very slowly. It’s been like that since the 1970s. Good luck to Evan and to Paul Whelan. Here’s hoping they don’t have to wait much longer to get released. So far Russian officials say prisoner swap talks have stalled.