Biden’s management has come forward to send convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia in exchange for the release of U. S. citizens Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner, both detained in Russia, CNN reported Wednesday, following months of conversations first reported through Forbes. .
Anonymous sources told CNN that the U. S. introduced the exchange in June and that President Joe Biden transferred it.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States had put a “substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate his release,” the main points of which he did explain.
Forbes reported in May that Biden’s management had begun initial talks with the Griner industry for Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in a federal prison in 2011 and is known as the “Merchant of Death. “
Forbes reached out to the State Department for comment.
Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in February in Russia when vaping cartridges containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage. She pleaded guilty to the fees and her trial is ongoing. Griner’s trial is believed to end before a deal is finalized, according to CNN. In 2020, Whelan, a former security official, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia for espionage, which he denies and that the U. S. denies. has called false. Bout convicted of conspiracy to illegally sell weapons worth millions of dollars. Whelan suggested Biden do everything he could to lose American citizens.
Former Marine Trevor Reed was released from Russia through a prisoner exchange in April. This week, he said the White House is “not doing enough” to bring Griner and Whelan home.
Will Griner free himself from the prison industry with the “merchant of death”?A lawyer says this is what Moscow wants. (To be)
Brittney Griner involved in possible prisoner exchange with Russia (Forbes)