The declaration was made the day after a Russian court handed basketball player Brittney Griner a nine-year prison term.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US will “pursue” Russia’s most recent request to arrange a prisoner swap involving basketball star Brittney Griner at the presidential level.
The US and Russia are prepared to consider prisoner swaps through an established diplomatic channel, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who made the announcement on Friday, one day after a Russian court sentenced Griner to nine years in prison for a drug offense.
Blinken stated at a gathering of foreign ministers on Friday in Cambodia that “they are prepared to engage” in a trade for Griner.
And we’ll be going after that,” he continued.
According to earlier remarks by Lavrov, US Vice President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to establish a diplomatic route to resolve such issues.
Lavrov, who is also from Cambodia, stated, “We are willing to discuss this matter but within the context of the channel that was agreed upon by presidents Putin and Biden.
In the case of Griner, the Kremlin has earlier warned Washington against using “megaphone diplomacy,” claiming that doing so would only thwart efforts to secure a potential swap. Lavrov reaffirmed this warning.
If the Americans choose to use public diplomacy once more, he continued, “it is their business and I would even say that it is their problem.”
“We ask them to Accept”
According to sources familiar with the situation, Griner’s Thursday sentence, which Biden called “unacceptable,” may now open the door for a prisoner swap involving the 31-year-old athlete, former US marine Paul Whelan, who is held in Russia, and Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison term in the US.
After Griner’s conviction, White House spokesman on national security John Kirby stated that the US had given Russia a genuine offer.
He continued, “We implore them to accept it. “When we first made it, they ought to have accepted it weeks ago.”
Kirby gave no additional information about the US proposal.
The Women’s National Basketball Association player and two-time Olympic gold medalist Griner was detained on February 17 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport after having vape cartridges containing hashish oil found in her luggage.
She was wrongfully detained, according to Washington, and Moscow is using her as a political pawn. Griner disobeyed Russian law, thus he should be punished in accordance with that law, according to Russian officials who rejected the US charges.
Griner said she packed her vape cartridges accidentally while rushing to catch her trip. She had been prescribed medical cannabis in the US to treat pain from longstanding injuries.
Despite maintaining that she had no intention of violating Russian law, she admitted guilt to the allegations brought against her.
Both medical and recreational marijuana use is forbidden in Russia.
