The Biden administration is looking to bring back home WNBA player Brittney Griner and U.S. citizen Paul Whelan through a prisoner exchange with Russia.

Fox News reported that State Secretary Antony Blinken said during a press conference that the administration made the proposal a week ago, hoping to discuss the matter with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time since February 15.

Blinken said he will be talking about the release of Whelan and Griner, who have been wrongfully detained and must be allowed to come home. The state secretary did not provide more details on the nature of the proposal. However, he noted the possibility of a prisoner swap, which has been speculated since Griner's trial started.

Griner has been detained in Russia on drug-related charges since February.

Blinken said the U.S. would like a response from Moscow, as the former has expressed interest in releasing Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer.

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Prisoner Swap With Russia

The Guardian noted that Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 on charges that he plotted to sell millions of dollars in weapons illegally.

Blinken said that he would be speaking to Lavrov about the importance of Russia following the U.N.-brokered deal struck in Turkey last Friday to free Ukrainian grain from storage.

Paul Whelan was a corporate security executive from Michigan and was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

Whelan and his family have maintained his innocence.

Brittney Griner acknowledged in court that she had vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage when she arrived in Moscow in February to play basketball in Russia. However, she said that she had no criminal intent and had packed the cartridges by accident.

She explained that she had a doctor's recommendation for it and had packed it up in a hurry. She is facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs.

The U.S. government has resisted prisoner exchanges out of concern that it could prompt additional hostage-taking situations.

In addition, it could also cause false equivalency between a wrongfully detained American and a foreign national identified as justly convicted.

U.S. President Joe Biden's Executive Order

U.S. President Joe Biden has issued an executive order addressing efforts to free U.S. citizens who are being held hostage and detainees.

The executive order allows departments and agencies to use financial sanctions and visa bans on both state and non-state actors to secure the release of detained Americans.

Russia, Iran, and Venezuela have been identified as having a risk of kidnapping and hostage-taking, as reported by NPR.

The executive order also directs agencies to share information and intelligence with family members of people who have been detained abroad.

In April, U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed was traded for the imprisoned Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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