Russian authorities said on Thursday that talks for an unnamed potential prisoner swap between their country and the US were ongoing but that no agreement had yet been reached. The response came in response to inquiries on a CNN story detailing a U.S. offer to swap Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is presently serving a 25-year jail sentence in the United States, for two American detainees: WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded to questions about the claim by saying, “The presidents of Russia and the United States previously spoke about the topic of exchanging persons of the two nations who were being held in detention facilities on their respective soils. They instructed the appropriate authorized bodies to conduct discussions… There hasn’t yet been a tangible outcome.”
When questioned about the prospective trade on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that he didn’t disclose current discussions but added that “so far, there are no agreements in this field.”
The Kremlin has long wanted Bout’s release; at the time of his 2012 sentencing in New York, they referred to his punishment as “baseless and unfair.” Bout was jailed on accusations that included “plot to assassinate Americans.”
Bout is said to have come from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic, and served in the Soviet Air Force and intelligence agency, according to a 2010 60 Minutes documentary. Federal prosecutors said during Bout’s trial that he began supplying Cold War weaponry to “bad individuals” all around the world following the fall of the Soviet Union.
According to Bout’s wife, on Wednesday, Bout was unaware of a potential trade, according to AFP.
The claim was not confirmed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, but he did state that the United States had made a “serious proposal” to Russia in an effort to secure Griner and Whelan’s release.
Blinken stated that he intended to talk with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, in the upcoming days, for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
“I plan to raise an issue that’s a top priority for us: the release of Americans Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, who have been wrongfully detained and must be allowed to come home,” Blinken said. “We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal.”