According to American sources, the American and Russian foreign ministers had “open and direct talks”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying to secure the release of American basketball player Brittney Griner.
(dpa)/fr. According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he has spoken to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. On Friday morning (local time) there was an “open and direct conversation” about an offer to release American basketball player Brittney Griner and American citizen Paul Whelan, Blinken said in Washington.
Previously, Blinken had already made an offer for a prisoner exchange – with the aim of freeing Griner. However, Blinken did not give any details about the offer.
“The offer has been made and we certainly hope that Russia will accept it,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council’s communications director, on Wednesday. The decision to do so was not easy. Media had previously reported that a prisoner swap with US-imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor But was part of the offer. For years Moscow has been demanding the extradition of the former Soviet officer who is said to have illegally equipped regimes and rebels in numerous countries with weapons. Bout was notorious as a “merchant of death”.
When asked why the US government is now going public with the offer, Kirby said: “The fact that there is a concrete proposal, that there is something concrete on the table, is important context for the world to know how serious it is America is about bringing our citizens home.”
Griner convicted of drug offenses
Basketball player Brittney Griner, who is jailed in Russia, defended herself in a criminal case for a drug offense in a court near Moscow on Wednesday. According to a report by the Russian news agency Interfax, the American said that she had used medical marijuana as a painkiller in consultation with her doctor. This is standard practice in the United States. “I had no intention of violating any law of the Russian Federation,” the agency quoted her as saying. At the same time, Griner admitted again that he had the drugs with him.
The 31-year-old had already admitted her guilt in early July. She had stated that she did not intend to commit a crime but acted in great haste while packing in the United States for her return to Russia. She packed the drugs without intention. She repeated this representation. The process began in July. Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on February 17.