Bill Richardson, former United States Ambassador before the United Nations and who has mediated negotiations to free hostages, expressed confidence on Tuesday that the release of the hostage could be achieved. basketball player Brittney Griner through an exchange of prisoners, but that the Russians will not deliver two for one, as has been speculated, but that the United States should release two Russian prisoners.
It has been speculated that the United States offered Viktor Bout, an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death”, in exchange for Griner and Paul Whelan, another American detained in Russia. Richardson, in an interview with the Associated Press, He said that, in cases like this, the exchange “has to be proportional, two for two.”
Richardson declined to comment on the status of the negotiations or his role in them. But he said he was “relatively optimistic” for several reasons. On the one hand, he said, Griner’s trial is over — she was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession — and this clears the way for firmer negotiations.
For the other, The United States and Russia have already shown willingness to do prisoner swaps in the past. He also believes that Griner’s expressed remorse may play to his advantage.
Whelan, a corporate executive from Michigan who provides security services to corporations, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in 2020. The US government says both he and Griner were wrongfully detained.
