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| Brittney Griner in court ahead of Wednesday's hearing. The 31-year-old has been in custody since February after Moscow airport officials found cannabis oil in her luggage, while she was returning to the US after playing in Russia. (Photo by= Getty Images) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] The US has made a "substantial offer" to bring two American detainees home from Russia, its top diplomat has said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would raise the issue in a call with Russia's foreign minister next week, BBC reported. Reports in US media suggest Moscow is interested in exchanging basketball star Brittney Griner for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed talks were ongoing but insisted no agreement had been reached. Mr. Blinken and Sergei Lavrov have not spoken since the war in Ukraine began. Both the White House and the Department of State declined on Wednesday to disclose details of the proposed deal. According to CNN, the US hopes to trade Bout for Ms. Griner and fellow American Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in 2020. The New York Times reports that the US last month offered Russia to swap Bout for Ms. Griner and Whelan and that President Joe Biden had approved the offer.
Mr. Kirby added that a White House official had spoken with the Whelan and Griner families ahead of Mr. Blinken's announcement, and they would speak again over the next 48 hours. The deal would be the first concrete action announced by the US government with regard to the release of Ms. Griner.
