The Kremlin on Wednesday stored the door open for talks on a attainable swap involving jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner however reiterated that any such discussions should be stored strictly confidential.
A Russian court docket on Tuesday rejected Griner’s enchantment in opposition to her nine-year jail sentence for drug possession. The eight-time all-star middle with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police stated they discovered vape canisters containing hashish oil in her baggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Requested if Griner could possibly be freed as a part of a prisoner swap with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in a convention name with reporters that “we at all times say that any contacts about attainable exchanges can solely be carried out in silence below a good lid on any info.”
Griner’s arrest in February got here at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, simply days earlier than Russia despatched troops into Ukraine. On the time, Griner was on her means again to the U.S. after taking part in for a Russian staff in the course of the WNBA’s offseason.
President Biden advised reporters that his administration is in “fixed contact” with Russian authorities on Griner and different People who're detained there. Whereas there has not been progress on bringing her again to the U.S., Biden stated, “We’re not stopping.”
At her trial, Griner admitted to having the canisters in her baggage however testified she packed them inadvertently in her haste to make her flight and had no felony intent. Her protection staff offered written statements saying she had been prescribed hashish to deal with continual ache.
Earlier than her conviction, the U.S. State Division declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a proper, diplomatically vital cost that Russia has sharply rejected.
U.S. nationwide safety advisor Jake Sullivan stated in a press release that Biden “is keen to go to extraordinary lengths and make robust selections to convey People dwelling.”
In July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken stated in an uncommon step that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to Moscow to get Griner dwelling, together with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
He didn’t elaborate, however the Related Press and different information organizations have reported that Washington has supplied to change Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms supplier who's serving a 25-year sentence within the U.S. and as soon as earned the nickname the “service provider of dying.”
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