US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he had a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and pressured the Kremlin to accept an “important proposal” from Washington for the release of two Americans detained in Russia. .
A source with knowledge of the situation said the US was willing to trade the arms dealer. Russian victor boltKnown as the “Lord of Weapons”, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States as part of the deal.
The USA announced this week that it made an offer to Russia weeks ago for the basketball player’s release. Britney grinder and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, but did not reveal what they were offering.
In their first meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Blinken and the Russian Foreign Ministry’s call, their countries’ top diplomats held their positions.
“We had an open and direct conversation,” Blinken said at the State Department’s press conference. “I pressured the Kremlin to accept our important proposal for the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” he said.
Lavrov suggested to Blinken that the two sides continue their silent diplomacy on the prisoner exchange.
“With regard to the possible exchange of detained Russians and US citizens, the Russian side strongly recommends returning to the practice of handling it professionally and using ‘silent diplomacy’, rather than providing speculative information,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. .
source: Noticias
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