The Kremlin warned on Thursday that any prisoner exchange with the US involving American basketball star Brittney Griner must be conducted quietly and without attention.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington has offered Russia a compromise in exchange for the release of Griner and another American, Paul Whelan. According to a source close to the situation, the US administration offered to deal convicted Russian weapons dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner.
Russia Says No Agreements Made in US's Proposal To Swap Prisoners
When asked about the US offer, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said such prisoner exchanges are usually conducted quietly behind closed doors. He stressed that no agreements have been completed and declined to disclose any further information.
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Russian and US officials had held talks regarding prospective prisoner swaps, but no tangible result has yet been achieved. Blinken's remarks were the first time the US administration publicly disclosed any actual steps it had made to achieve Griner's release.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA star for the Phoenix Mercury were detained in mid-February at a Moscow airport after officials discovered vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Blinken said he expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the potential prisoner deal and other issues, reversing his past stance. It would be their first phone contact since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
For years, Russia has indicated an interest in the release of Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the Merchant of Death who was sentenced to 25 years in jail in 2012 on allegations of unlawfully selling millions of dollars in weapons, according to Press Herald.
US Faces Pressure To Free Griner, Russia Presses Bout's Return
Griner testified on Wednesday that a language translator only translated a quarter of what was said to her when she was held at Moscow's airport and that authorities urged her to sign paperwork but "no one explained anything to me." Griner also claimed that, aside from the bad translation, she was not explained her rights or access to counsel during her initial incarceration. She said she communicated with a customs official using a translation tool on her phone.
Her detention happened at a moment when Moscow and Washington were at odds, with Russia preparing to send soldiers into Ukraine on February 24. Griner's five-month incarceration has sparked outrage among teammates and fans in the United States.
The Biden administration has been under political pressure to release Griner and other Americans that the US has designated as wrongfully held - a classification that Russian authorities strongly oppose, as per Yahoo News. Meanwhile, Russian officials have pushed for Bout's extradition since his 2011 conviction on four charges of plotting to assassinate the American people by a New York jury. Prosecutors said he agreed to sell antiaircraft weaponry to drug enforcement operatives masquerading as arms purchasers for Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Eric Holder, the attorney general at the time, referred to Bout as one of the world's most prolific arms traffickers. Bout earned the moniker "Merchant of Death" among American intelligence authorities after evading arrest for years. His actions influenced the 2005 film 'Lord of War,' which starred Nicolas Cage as a figure modeled by Bout.
He is now the most visible Russian detainee in US captivity, and the prisoner for whom Russia has campaigned the most vociferously for his release. If he is sent to Russia, it is likely to reignite the debate about the propriety of engaging in prisoner swaps for Americans that the US regards to be "wrongfully held," as Griner and Whelan are, The New York Times reported.
Related Article : Brittney Griner Update: US Offers Merchant of Death to Russia in Prisoner Swap for WNBA Star
