Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signaled on Friday that Russia wants to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the United States.
The remark comes a day after a Russian court sentenced American professional basketball player Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug trafficking for transporting cannabis oil, a condemnation that US President Joe Biden called “unacceptable”.
During a Friday visit to Cambodia, Lavrov said “we are ready to discuss this topic”. He added that the prisoner swap talks should take place through a special diplomatic channel he said had been previously agreed upon by Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden said Thursday he would work “tirelessly” to bring back Griner and Paul Whelan, a former Marine who had previously been sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison for espionage.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Griner and Whelan had been “wrongfully detained” and called the return of American citizens a top priority. Blinken spoke to Lavrov Last week to press for their release.
The White House says it has made a “substantial offer,” which CNN says includes a prolific Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, but also Russian Vadim Krasikov, who is facing a life imprisonment in Germany for a contract. killing in a Berlin park.
At a White House press briefing on Thursday, a spokesperson said Moscow “should have agreed to it weeks ago when we first did it,” without giving details on how. potential prisoner exchange offer.
Griner has been detained in Russia for more than five months, after being arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport when security forces found cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner pleaded guilty, but his attorney said the athlete was prescribed the oil by his doctor as a pain reliever. Griner’s defense plans to challenge the court’s decision.
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