Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that he is open to a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney. Griner.
Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring back Griner and another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan. According to multiple reports, the US government has proposed swapping convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner.
Speaking about a visit to Uzbekistan, Lavrov said his ministry had received an official request from the United States for a call after Blinken made the statement. Russia’s top diplomat said he would be ready once he returns to Moscow and the timing of the call was being determined.
Lavrov said he was open to discussing the prisoner swap, even though the Foreign Ministry has not been involved in previous discussions on the issue.
“I will listen to what you have to say,” Lavrov added.
Asked Thursday about the US offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said prisoner swaps were usually negotiated quietly behind the scenes.
“We know that such issues are discussed without such disclosure of information,” Peskov told reporters during a conference call. “Normally, the public finds out when the agreements are already implemented.”
Blinken’s comments marked the first time the US government has publicly disclosed any concrete action it has taken to secure Griner’s release. The Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February when inspectors found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
Griner’s arrest came at a time of heightened tension between Moscow and Washington ahead of the dispatch of Russian troops to Ukraine on February 24. Griner’s five-month detention has drawn sharp criticism from teammates and fans in the United States.
Her trial on drug charges began in a court on the outskirts of Moscow this month, and she testified on Wednesday that she did not know how the cartridges ended up in her bag, but that she had a doctor’s recommendation to use cannabis to treat drug-related pain. his career.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty but said she had no criminal intent in bringing the cartridges to Russia and hastily packed them to return to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA offseason. She faces up to 10 years in prison if she is convicted of transporting drugs. Sources have told ESPN’s TJ Quinn that a verdict and sentencing is expected on August 5.
The Biden administration has faced political pressure to release Griner and other Americans whom the United States has declared “wrongly detained,” a designation Russian authorities have adamantly rejected.
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2020. He and his family have strongly asserted his innocence. The US government has denounced the charges as false.
If a call between Blinken and Lavrov occurs, it would be their first conversation since February 15.
Russia has for years expressed interest in the release of Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was once called the “merchant of death.” He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 on charges of conspiring to illegally sell millions of dollars worth of weapons.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
