RIGA, Latvia — Russia met a proposal to free jailed U.S. nationals WNBA star Brittney Griner and security consultant Paul Whelan with cool silence on Thursday.
Russian front pages and state media did not carry the news that Washington made a “substantial proposal” to Russia to secure the release of Phoenix Mercury star Griner, on trial in Moscow for drug charges, and U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted by Russian authorities in 2020 of espionage and sentenced to 16 years of hard labor.
There was little public reaction from officials as Moscow keeps its cards close to its chest. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state-owned media late Wednesday that he had no comment.
قال وزير الخارجية أنطوني بلينكين الأربعاء إن الصفقة المحتملة عُرضت "منذ أسابيع" ، لكنها لم تحدد شروطها أو ما إذا كان هناك أي رد ملموس.
Blinken’s comments have fueled speculation that the deal could be a potential prisoner exchange involving notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, 55, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death.”
Bout, whose wild exploits once inspired a Hollywood film starring Nicolas Cage, is serving a 25-year sentence in Illinois for conspiring to kill U.S. nationals and selling weapons to terrorists.
The Kremlin has long pushed for Bout’s release since his arrest in Thailand in 2008, claiming his conviction by a New York court in 2011 was “unlawful.” Blinken would not say whether Bout was part of the deal offered to Russia.
في تغيير صارخ في السلوك الدبلوماسي ، قال بلينكين أيضًا إنه سيتحدث إلى نظيره الروسي وزير الخارجية سيرجي لافروف "في الأيام المقبلة" ، في ما سيكون أول دعوة لهم منذ غزو أوكرانيا في 24 فبراير. لمناقشة إطلاق سراح الأمريكيين المحتجزين ، من بين القضايا الملحة الأخرى مثل الحبوب والغاز.
كان هناك اقتراح جوهري مطروح على الطاولة منذ أسابيع لتسهيل الإفراج عنهم. وقال بلينكين للصحفيين "لقد تواصلت حكومتنا بشكل متكرر ومباشر بشأن هذا الاقتراح. "وسأستخدم المحادثة للمتابعة شخصيًا وآمل أن نتحرك نحو حل."
If it happens, the prisoner swap would be the second such deal agreed by the Biden administration.
In April, former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, who was convicted in 2020 of assaulting two Russian police officers returned home in exchange for the release of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was jailed on drug-smuggling charges in the United States.
The swap showed Washington and Moscow could still reach some agreements even amid the Ukraine war and efforts by the White House to economically and politically isolate Russia on the world stage.