Kremlin says any talks about Brittney Griner swap should be confidentialYesterday

The Kremlin on Wednesday stored the door open for talks on a attainable swap involving jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner however reiterated that any such discussions should be stored strictly confidential.

A Russian court docket on Tuesday rejected Griner’s enchantment in opposition to her nine-year jail sentence for drug possession. The eight-time all-star middle with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police stated they discovered vape canisters containing hashish oil in her baggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

Requested if Griner may very well be freed as a part of a prisoners swap with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in a convention name with reporters that “we at all times say that any contacts about attainable exchanges can solely be performed in silence beneath a good lid on any data.”

Griner’s arrest in February got here at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, simply days earlier than Russia despatched troops into Ukraine. On the time, Griner was returning to play for a Russian staff through the WNBA’s offseason.

President Joe Biden advised reporters that his administration is in “fixed contact” with Russian authorities on Griner and different People who’re detained there. Whereas there has not been progress on bringing her again to the U.S., Biden stated, “We’re not stopping.”

At her trial, Griner admitted to having the canisters in her baggage however testified she packed them inadvertently in her haste to make her flight and had no legal intent. Her defence staff introduced written statements saying she had been prescribed hashish to deal with persistent ache.

Earlier than her conviction, the U.S. State Division declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” – a cost that Russia has sharply rejected.

U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan stated in a press release that Biden “is keen to go to extraordinary lengths and make powerful selections to convey People dwelling.”

In July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in an uncommon step that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to Moscow get Griner dwelling, together with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

He didn’t elaborate, however The Related Press and different information organizations have reported that Washington has supplied to trade Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms vendor who’s serving a 25-year sentence within the U.S. and as soon as earned the nickname the “service provider of demise.”