Watch live: Joe Biden delivers remarks after release of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan

President Joe Biden is addressing the nation on Thursday afternoon following a prisoner swap and the release of Americans who were detained in Russia, including Evan Gershkovich , a journalist for the Wall Street Journal.

USA TODAY is providing live coverage of Biden's remarks, which were scheduled to begin at noon ET on Thursday. You can watch the embedded video at the top of the page or on USA TODAY's YouTube channel .

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was also released from Russian custody Thursday, part of the biggest prisoner exchange between the U.S., Russia and four other governments since the Cold War. The prisoner swap involves the release of 16 individuals previously detained in Russia in exchange for eight individuals held in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland.

In July, Gershkovich was convicted in Russia on espionage charges, which he denies. He was given 16 years in jail, and was held in Russia for a total of 17 months.

Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan are free: Follow live updates as Russia releases Americans in prisoner swap

Whelan had been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges his family and the U.S. government have called baseless. Whelan was convicted by Russia in 2020 of spying and was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison colony, and the U.S. had classified him as wrongfully detained.

Contributing: Joey Garrison, Kim Hjelmgaard and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch live: Joe Biden delivers remarks after release of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan