Talks to free prisoners are one of the few areas where Russian-American dialogue has not broken down despite the war in Ukraine.
In June, the United States made a prisoner exchange offer to Russia to secure the release of basketball player Brittney Griner, the two-time Olympic champion accused of drug smuggling, and former Marine Paul Whelan, also detained in Russia after he was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for "espionage" in 2020.
According to CNN, the Biden administration has offered in exchange for releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.
Nicknamed the "merchant of death", Viktor Bout, whose career is out of the ordinary, was even the inspiration for the film "Lord of War" in which Nicolas Cage plays a most cynical arms trafficker.
“We will be happy if Brittney can go home soon”
For the time being, Moscow has acknowledged that negotiations were underway by the “competent authorities” but that no “concrete result has yet been achieved”, indicated the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova.
“Since there is no finalized agreement, we have nothing to add on the subject”, for his part repeated the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.
According to Maria Zakharova, Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin "in their time" ordered the holding of talks with a view to an exchange of prisoners, while the subject has come up regularly since their summit in June 2021 in Geneva.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, had announced that he would speak “in the coming days” with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
However, relatives Viktor Bout and Brittney Griner have indicated for their part that they are not informed of the status of the discussions.
"We spoke on the phone and Viktor knows nothing about negotiations between Russia and the United States to exchange him," the Russian detainee's wife told the Ria Novosti agency.
Same thing for Brittney Griner's lawyers.
“Lawyers do not participate in negotiations.
From a legal point of view, the exchange can only take place after the statement of the verdict in the Griner case.
In any case, we will be happy if Brittney can return home soon, ”said her lawyer Maria Blagovolina.
Brittney Gringer's trial is ongoing.
The next hearing is scheduled for August 2.
In her defence, the Olympic champion claims that she mistakenly took medicinal cannabis with her when she traveled to Russia to join the Russian team for which she plays.
However, this substance is authorized in the United States but not in Russia.
The 31-year-old woman faces 10 years in prison.
