The US and Russia have indicated they are ready to hold talks over a prisoner swap, a day after basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison for carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil through a Moscow airport.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Cambodia that the Kremlin is “ready to discuss this topic, but within the framework of the channel that has been agreed by the presidents.
Sergy Lavrov has said that there is a specified channel that has been agreed upon by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, and no matter what anyone says publicly, this channel will remain in effect.
Mr. Lavrov said this on Friday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
Shortly later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the same summit that the US will “pursue” talks with Russia.
The comments from each side suggest that a negotiation process, which has already proven complex, could accelerate in the coming days.
Russian government officials requested last month that a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy agency, who was convicted of murder in Germany last year, be included in the US’ proposed swap of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner and Paul Whelan.
Mr. Whelan, a US citizen, has been held by Russia since 2018 and was convicted by a Russian court in 2020 on espionage charges that he has strenuously denied.
Ms. Griner, a Women’s National Basketball Association star, pleaded guilty to carrying cannabis oil in her luggage as she traveled through a Moscow airport on February 17.
Ms. Griner’s lawyers had hoped that her guilty plea and statements of remorse would result in a more lenient sentence.
