Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug costs, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for worldwide arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home,” President Biden mentioned in a tweet.
CBS News was first to report the swap, which passed off in the United Arab Emirates, after it was confirmed by a U.S. official. The one-for-one alternate settlement negotiated with Moscow in current weeks was given ultimate approval by President Biden inside simply the final week, in line with sources aware of the deal.
Five former U.S. officers advised CBS News the settlement had been reached as of final Thursday.
A White House official mentioned the president spoke to Brittney Griner by telephone from the Oval Office, the place he was joined by Griner’s spouse Cherelle, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Per normal process for freed U.S. prisoners, Griner was anticipated to rapidly bear a medical analysis.
Speaking shortly after Griner was released, Mr. Biden mentioned on the White House that he was “glad to be able to say Brittney is in good spirits,” and that she was trying ahead to getting house. The president dismissed the “show trial in Russia” that landed her in jail and mentioned “she didn’t ask for special treatment.”
To safe Griner’s launch, the president ordered Bout to be freed and returned to Russia. Mr. Biden signed the commutation order reducing quick Bout’s 25-year federal jail sentence.
Notably, the Griner-for-Bout alternate leaves retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan has been in Russian custody for practically 4 years. He was convicted on espionage charges that the U.S. has known as false.
“We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Mr. Biden mentioned Thursday, including “we will never give up” on securing his launch.
Griner was detained at a Russian airport in February and later pleaded responsible to costs stemming from the invention of cannabis-derived oil cartridges in her baggage.
After 5 months of stalled diplomacy and numerous permutations of potential swap preparations — together with a beforehand unreported provide by the U.S. this previous summer time to ship two prisoners again to Russia for the 2 Americans — sources say the one-for-one alternate got here collectively over the past two weeks.
Whelan, who as soon as labored as a company safety contractor, was in Moscow for a good friend’s marriage ceremony when he was detained at a lodge in December 2018. Russian authorities later sentenced him to 16 years in jail for espionage — a cost the U.S. and Whelan denied. This month marks the fourth anniversary of Whelan’s time in Russian custody.
Bout, who was most not too long ago held at a federal jail in Marion, Illinois, was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency in Thailand following a sting operation in 2008. He was convicted of conspiring to kill Americans and started his 25-year sentence a decade in the past.
Griner’s arrest coincided with the February begin to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and all U.S. dealings with the Kremlin have been sophisticated by that battle. The U.S. has mentioned each Griner and Whelan had been “wrongfully detained,” and officers have suspected that Russia has been utilizing the American prisoners as leverage.
Griner’s return for Bout marks the Biden administration’s second prisoner swap with Russia. In April, the U.S. traded Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian smuggler convicted of conspiring to import cocaine, for Trevor Reed. The former U.S. Marine had been imprisoned in Russia for practically three years.
CBS News discovered final Thursday that the Griner-for-Bout swap was in the offing however agreed to a White House request to carry the reporting as a result of officers expressed grave concern concerning the fragility of the then-emerging deal.
The Biden administration officers warned that making particulars of the swap public beforehand would nearly definitely lead Russia to drag out of the settlement and probably endanger Griner’s well-being.
Nancy Cordes, Ed O’Keefe, Sara Cook, Camilla Schick, Tucker Reals and Haley Ott contributed reporting.
