US offers prisoner deal

Blinken asks to speak to Russian counterpart

The US has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a sharp reversal of previous policy.

Blinken also said he expects to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time since before Russia invaded Ukraine to discuss the deal and other matters.

Blinken’s comments marked the first time the US Government has publicly revealed any concrete action it has taken to secure the release of Griner, who was arrested on drug-related charges at a Moscow airport in February and testified yesterday at her trial. He did not offer details on the proposed deal outlined to the Russians, though a person familiar with the matter said the US government has offered to trade convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner.

The person insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Though it is unclear if the proposal will be enough for Russia to release the Americans, the public acknowledgment of the offer at a time when the US has otherwise shunned Russia reflects the mounting pressure on the

administration over Griner and Whelan and its determination to get them home.

It also signals a growing acceptance by the White House of prisoner swaps as resolutions for cases of Americans jailed overseas, particularly after a trade in April that secured the release of Marine veteran Trevor Reed and yielded a much-needed publicity win for the administration.

“We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal, and I’ll use the conversation to follow up personally and, I hope, to move us toward a resolution,” Blinken said.

President Joe Biden, who authorised the Reed prisoner swap after meeting with the veteran’s parents,

signed off on the deal the US offered in this case, officials said.

Should the call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov take place, it would be the first conversation that the men have held since February 15, about a week before Russia invaded Ukraine.

US officials said the desire for an answer on the prisoner offer was the primary, but not only, reason that the US has requested a new call with Lavrov. Blinken said he would also be speaking to Lavrov about the importance of Russia complying with a Un-brokered deal to free multiple tonnes of Ukrainian grain from storage and warning him about the dangers of possible Russian attempts to annex portions of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Whelan, a corporate security

executive from Michigan, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

He and his family have vigorously asserted his innocence. The US government has denounced the charges as false.

Griner, in Russian custody for the past five months, acknowledged in court that she had vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage when she arrived in Moscow in February but contends she had no criminal intent and packed the cartridges inadvertently.

At her trial yesterday, Griner said she did not know how the cannabis oil ended up in her bag but explained she had a doctor’s recommendation for it and had packed in haste. Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs. —AP