In an effort to free the basketball star Brittney Griner and another American, imprisoned in Russia, the United States has proposed a deal to Moscow. That said Foreign Minister Antony Blinken on Wednesday.
Blinken gave no details about the proposed deal, which was offered weeks ago. It is also unclear whether it will be enough for Russia to release the Americans. According to CNN, the US is willing to exchange Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout (55). The news channel claims to rely on sources that have been informed about the matter. They said the plan to swap Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan for Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, has been approved by President Joe Biden. Its support for the exchange exceeds opposition from the Department of Justice, which is generally against the trade of prisoners.
“We have communicated a substantial offer that we believe could be successful based on a history of talks with the Russians,” a senior US government official told CNN on Wednesday. “We communicated that a few weeks ago, in June.”
Conversation with Lavrov
Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington would like a response from Moscow and plans to discuss the matter this week during an expected meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. US officials said the desire for a response to the prisoners’ offer was the main, but not the only, reason for requesting a meeting with Lavrov. That would be the first since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Russia has for years been interested in the release of Bout, who was once called the ‘death merchant’. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2012 for illegal arms trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder and aiding terrorists. The conviction related to arms supplies to Colombia.
Bout, who maintained his innocence, managed to evade justice for years but was caught in Bangkok in 2008 when he tried to sell weapons to American agents posing as buyers of the Colombian terrorist group Farc. Moscow tried unsuccessfully to thwart Bout’s extradition from Thailand to the US.
American basketball star Brittney Griner (31) was arrested four months ago for drug possession in Russia. According to the security service at Moscow airport, she was in possession of capsules of cannabis oil, an illegal narcotic in Russia that carries a maximum sentence of ten years. During the trial against her, she pleaded guilty. In a letter to the White House, the sportswoman asked President Biden for help.
Former Marine Paul Whelan, a Canadian with American, British and Irish citizenship, was sentenced in June last year to 16 years in prison for espionage. He was arrested in Russia at the end of 2018. According to US diplomats, the trial, which took place behind closed doors, was “unfair” and lacks evidence. The former Marine, who appealed, was sentenced to eighteen years in prison.
US officials said the desire for a response to the prisoner’s offer was the main, but not the only, reason why the US requested the meeting with Lavrov on Wednesday.
Watch our news videos in the playlist below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.
#trade #Russian #arms #dealer #death #Moscow #American #basketball #star