Russia has released American basketball player Brittney Greiner. In return, the United States released Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Reuters and the Associated Press reported, citing official US sources.
US President Joe Biden tweeted that Britney Greiner was safe and traveling to the US.
The prisoner swap was confirmed by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by TASS. It happened at the airport of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Viktor Bout has flown to Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
Before being released, the two were respectively pardoned by the Russian and American judicial authorities.
“I spoke to Britney Greiner a few minutes ago. She is safe. (Britney) is on a plane. She is on her way home,” Biden later announced from the White House, quoted by DPA.
The president of the United States publishes the photos. In one of them he is talking on the phone with the basketball player, and in the other, his wife Cheryl Greiner is in his company.
Biden confided that Brittney Greiner is in good spirits, but added that she will need time to overcome the psychological trauma she has suffered, France Press reported.
Cheryl Greiner, in turn, expressed her “sincere gratitude” to the US president and his administration and added that she was deeply moved by the release of his wife.
This is the second prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia in the past eight months, notes AP. It was made at a time of high geopolitical tension between the two countries against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
The release of basketball star Britney Greiner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the United States national team, was among President Joe Biden’s top priorities. It has been achieved, but at a high cost, and what’s more, former Marine Paul Whelan has been in a Russian prison for nearly four years, AP notes.
The Biden administration’s decision to agree to release Russian Viktor Bout, known as the Death Dealer, came amid mounting pressure to bring home Brittney Greiner, the top US citizen held in a foreign prison.
An exchange like this had been rumored for months. However, the one-on-one format is surprising given that US officials had expressed their determination to bring Greiner and Whelan home together.
The former marine’s lawyer confirmed today that his client is in a Russian prison. Talks for Paul Whelan’s release continue, he added, quoted by Reuters.
Joe Biden has made it clear that he has not given up on trying to secure the release of Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia on espionage charges. “Unfortunately, and for entirely illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently from Britney’s. And while we still haven’t been able to secure Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up. “said Biden.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested on February 17, a week before Moscow sent troops to Ukraine, at a Moscow airport after refills of e-cigarettes with cannabis oil, banned in Russia, were found in her luggage . On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in penal colony for drug possession and smuggling. Greiner pleaded guilty, but she said she had imported the banned substance into Russia by mistake and she did not intend to break the law.
Supporters of Greiner, 32, have condemned his detention as a political issue due to the war in Ukraine and tensions between Moscow and Washington.
Sometimes called a “dealer of death” and a “sanctions breaker” for his prowess at evading gun import bans, Bout, 55, was one of the world’s most wanted men before he was arrested in 2008 in Thailand and extradited to the United States on numerous charges related to arms trafficking.
For nearly two decades, Booth has been the world’s top arms dealer, selling weapons to criminal states, rebel groups and bloodthirsty warlords in Africa, Asia and South America, Reuters noted.
