WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken revealed on Wednesday that the United States had “put an important proposal on the table a few weeks ago” in negotiations with Russia to secure the release of basketball star Brittney Griner and another other Americans are detained, Paul Whelan.
A person briefed on the talks said that in June the US offered to trade Jailed Russian arms dealer, Viktor BoutGriner and Whelan, and President Biden – who is under growing political pressure to free Americans – supported the proposal.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Washington, Mr. Blinken said that the United States and Russia had “exchanged many times and directly about that proposal” and that he expected to make the proposal live soon. meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey V. Lavrov.
Blinken would not provide further details on the proposal, or describe any Russian response, saying he did not want to jeopardize sensitive negotiations with Moscow. Mr. Blinken last spoke with Mr. Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat, in January at a meeting in Geneva, weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 resulted in a near US shutdown. diplomacy with Russia.
Mr. Blinken refused to confirm a CNN’s report that Mr. Biden had agreed to exchange Mr. Bout, whom the Kremlin had demanded for years to free, for Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan. Known as the “Trader of Death,” Bout is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to sell weapons to people who say they planned to kill Americans.
Responding to a question last week about Mr. Bout’s ability to trade, William J. Burns, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, was less than enthusiastic, calling Mr. Bout “” a bad guy.”
Mr. Bout, 55, is a former Soviet military officer who made a fortune from the global arms trade before being arrested in a federal operation. Russian officials have been pressing his case for years, and in recent weeks Russian media outlets have linked his case directly to Ms. Griner.
Russia has held Ms. Griner, 31, since mid-February, when she was arrested at the airport in Moscow on charges related to hash oil found in her luggage. She pleaded guilty to drug charges against her and told a court outside Moscow on Wednesday that she unknowingly packaged a small amount of a marijuana-related substance, which she used under prescribed by your doctor for pain control. Russia is famous for having strict drug laws. At her trial on Wednesday, she testified about her ordeal in navigating an unfamiliar legal system.
Mr Whelan, 52, a former maritime and security company director, was detained at a Moscow hotel in 2019 and charged with espionage. The State Department classified both Mr Whelan and Ms Griner as “wrongfully detained” and referred their cases to a hostage affairs office.
In a statement, Whelan’s brother David said the family was only learning about the US proposal.
The Plight of Brittney Griner in Russia
The American basketball star spent months in prison in Russia accused of smuggling hash oil into the country.
“Our family appreciates the Biden administration’s attempt to free Paul using available resources,” he said. “We hope the Russian government responds to the US government and accepts this or some other concession so that Paul can return home to his family.”
Griner’s Russian defense team said it learned of the US offer from the news and that it had not participated in the discussions. From a legal perspective, a prisoner exchange can only be done after the court pronounces the sentence, the lawyers said.
“In any case, we would be really happy if Brittney can return home and hopefully that will happen soon,” said one of her attorneys, Maria Blagovolina.
While declining to discuss specifics, Mr. Blinken said the US government is trying to balance demands for the release of wrongfully held prisoners around the world, while also working “to strengthen the global norm against these arbitrary detentions, against what is truly a terrible reality.”
Critics say the prisoner swap encourages foreign governments and terrorist groups to arrest or kidnap Americans. But the US made a deal with Moscow in April, sending back a convicted Russian drug smuggler in exchange for Trevor Reed, a former US Marine was arrested in Moscow in 2019 on charges of assaulting a police officer. Biden administration officials say the trade is an exception prompted by Reed’s ill health.
