US Offers Prisoner Swap For Griner And Paul Whelan

The Guardian reports:

The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday.

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.

The statement 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 on Wednesday at her trial.

Read the full article.

CNN Exclusive: The US has offered to swap convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout as part of an exchange for imprisoned Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. @kylieatwood @evanperez & @jmhansler reporthttps://t.co/Xjb4iighWp

— CNN NationalSecurity (@NatSecCNN) July 27, 2022