Russia Y United States of America They traded the American basketball star brittney griner By Russian arms dealer Victor ButThe Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
“Successfully completed at Abu Dhabi airport on 8 December 2022. Replacing Russian citizen Viktor But with US citizen Brittney Griner, Russian diplomacy said in a statement that those who are serving their sentences in the US and Russian penitentiary institutions, respectively.
Griner was sentenced to 9 years in prison in Russia last August. Drug possession and smuggling chargesBut, known as the “death dealer”, was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States.
According to the department headed by Sergei Shoigu, Moscow “has been negotiating for a long time” for Ama’s releaseHe was arrested in Thailand in March 2008 and extradited to the United States in November 2010.
“Washington categorically rejected the dialogue on the inclusion of Russia in the exchange program.He says foreign.
However, the Russian Federation continued to work actively to save our citizens.
Likewise, “as a result of these efforts, it was possible to agree with the US side to organize the But for Griner swap.”
last November, Russian diplomacy agreed that a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States would be a positive sign. for relations between the two countries
“If this happens, it will undoubtedly be a positive sign that all is not lost in Russian-American relations. If an agreement can be reached, perhaps this signal will be appropriate now,” said the Russian deputy foreign minister. Sergey Riabkov.
According to Washington, the situation of Griner and other US prisoners in Russia was discussed at a meeting they held last month. William Burns, head of the CIA (US intelligence agency) and Sergei Narishkin, head of the Russian Foreign Espionage Service, in Ankara.
The last prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States took place last April, when Trevor Reed, a Texas student and former sailor, was replaced by Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.