An arms dealer for a basketball star? The United States offers Moscow a prisoner exchange to free Brittney Griner

The United States did it a “substantial offer” to bring home two American inmates from Russia, one of them basketball star Brittney Griner, held in Moscow for “transporting cannabis oil”.

The same Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenhe said he will address the issue in a phone call with the Russian foreign minister next week.

US media reports suggest Moscow is interested in trading Griner by convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the talks are ongoing but insisted that no agreement has been reached. And he asked that these negotiations take place discreetly and without complications.

Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered an exchange for Griner and Paul Whelan, a former US Marine convicted of espionage in Russia.

A source familiar with the matter said the US government had proposed swapping Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout with the Americans.

Negotiating in the shadows

Asked about the supply, Peskov said prisoner exchanges are usually negotiated behind the scenes.

“We know these issues are being discussed without divulging information,” Peskov said during a virtual press conference. “Normally, the public finds out when the agreements are consummated”.

He stressed that “no deal has been finalized” and refused to go into details.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajarova said officials from both countries they negotiated possible prisoner exchanges “and there are no concrete results yet”.

“We assume that the interests of both sides must be taken into account during the negotiations,” Zajarova said.

is first time that the US government publicly reveals that it has taken concrete steps to ensure Griner’s freedom.

The Griner case

Two-time Olympic champion and WNBA player for Phoenix Mercury was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February when the inspectors found cartridges for vaporizers full of cannabis oil in your luggage.

At his trial in a court outside Moscow, Griner testified Wednesday did not know what the cartridges in his luggage looked like, but that he had a doctor’s recommendation to use cannabis as an analgesic for pain caused by his career.

The 31-year-old pleaded guilty, but she said so it had no criminal intent carrying the cartridges to Russia and hastily packed the suitcase to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA off-season. face a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for transporting drugs.

The Bout case

Blinken said he was looking forward to talking to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about the proposed prisoner swap and other issues, in what would be their first telephone conversation since before Russian troops entered Ukraine in February. .

Russia has been expressing its interest in the meeting releasea Russian arms dealer nicknamed the “merchant of death”.

In 2012 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for planning the illegal sale of weapons for millionaire values.

Associated Press

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