![Maria Zakharova](/index.php/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2021-01/Maria%20Zakharova_0.jpg?itok=dNrfwAQs)
16 Jan 2021; MEMO: At a press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow hopes that the US will keep its promise and close Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo Bay, where 19 years ago the US opened a military detention centre notorious for its human rights abuses, was once promised by US President-elect Joe Biden to be shut down. Biden is now under pressure to deliver.
Zakharova added: "We are hopeful that the new US administration will fulfil the promises made by Washington earlier to immediately close Guantanamo Bay and allow prisoners to receive fair, independent and impartial trials."