![]() ![]() Trevor Reed, a former Marine, was released in April after having spent nearly three years in a Russian jail. prisoner swap with Russia since the war in Ukraine started. The family asked for privacy "as we embark on this road to healing." "We pray for Paul and for the swift and safe return of all wrongfully-detained Americans." "We sincerely thank you all for the kind words, thoughts and prayers - including Paul and the Whelan family who have been generous with their support for Brittney and our family during what we know is a heartbreaking time," the family said. In a written statement Thursday night, the Griner family thanked Biden, his administration and others for their work. The Biden administration has faced tremendous pressure to help bring home Griner, whose teammates, family and friends, as well as a number of U.S. ![]() and its allies firmly backed Kyiv and condemned the Kremlin for launching the war against Ukraine in February. The swap marks the most prominent diplomatic engagement between the two countries since the U.S. Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout at a detention center in Bangkok in 2008. The Kremlin has demanded his release over the past decade, saying he was unfairly targeted. The deal, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed at the time, would have included the U.S.’s releasing Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death" because he was considered one of the world’s biggest illicit arms dealers.īout was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in 2012 after he was convicted of selling arms to Colombian rebels, which prosecutors said were intended to kill Americans. proposed a prisoner exchange for the release of Griner and Whelan, who has been detained since 2018. The entrance to the Russian penal colony IK-2, where Griner began serving her sentence. ![]() Russia called for “quiet diplomacy” but said after Griner was sentenced that it was ready to discuss a deal. ![]() had put a prisoner swap offer on the table. Griner said the canisters, which she had been prescribed to treat chronic pain, were packed inadvertently as she hurriedly prepared for her flight.Īs her trial neared its end in early August, it became public that the U.S. Griner pleaded guilty at her trial in July but said she had no criminal intent. Griner’s release marks a stunning turn of events from last month, when she began serving a nine-year sentence at a penal colony more than 200 miles east of Moscow. insists it has no Russian spies in its custody and therefore no one to trade. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to free him without getting a Russian spy in return. Whelan is serving a 16-year prison sentence after he was accused of spying, which the U.S. President Joe Biden with Brittney Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner, in an image released Thursday. "We explored a host of different scenarios, and they were not ready to negotiate in good faith for the release of Paul," the official said. The deal was reached about a week ago, an official said, after the Biden administration floated a number of proposals to secure the release of both Griner and Whalen - all of which Russia rejected. “I’m telling you, I am determined to get her home and get her home safely - along with others, I might add,” Biden said Nov. Biden's administration had sought the release of both Griner and Whelan. Griner, 32, of the Phoenix Mercury, was the subject of prolonged and often public negotiations after a trial that underscored frayed relations amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. ![]()
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