Russian Viktor Bout’s swap procedure with US citizen Brittney Griner succeeded Finished Thursday at Abu Dhabi Airport. This was reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry on 8 December.
“On December 8, 2022, at the Abu Dhabi airport, the procedure for replacing Russian citizen Viktor Bout with US citizen Brittney Griner, who is serving her sentence in correctional institutions in the United States and Russian Federation, respectively, was successfully completed,” he said.
Washington categorically rejected the dialogue on the inclusion of the Russian Viktor Bout in the exchange program, but they noted on Smolenskaya Square that the Russian Federation continues this work.
“For a long time, the Russian Federation has been negotiating with the USA on the release of Viktor Bout. As a result of the efforts, it was possible to agree with the American side to organize the exchange of Viktor Bout with Brittney Griner. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the Russian citizen was repatriated to his homeland.
Ivan Melnikov, vice-chairman of the Russian branch of the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, said Bout flew to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and would arrive in the capital in a few hours. According to him, Viktor Bout’s wife learned that her husband was released after the fact that “this is a real New Year’s gift for him.”
Melnikov added that Booth and Greiner were pardoned prior to the exchange procedure and therefore did not need to serve their sentences on their home country’s territory.
“The replacement of Viktor Bout with the American basketball player Greiner can be called a real New Year’s gift. “I think that everyone who follows the fate of this absolutely wonderful person, a victim of American innuendo, immersed in a sense of joy,” said Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation.
In this context, US President Joseph Biden said about the conversation he had with Greiner, who was on the plane on his way home.
“I just spoke to Brittney Greiner. She’s safe. She’s on the plane. She’s coming home,” she said. Biden added that Washington is in intense talks with the Russian side to exchange Bout for Greiner.
“We never stopped seeking his release. This required careful and intense negotiations,” he said.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov, “Izvestia”Discussion of all important issues related to prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States is done “only through a separate channel determined by the two heads of state”.
Ryabkov noted that the most important thing for Russia “is the release of everyone convicted in the United States for ‘brutal’, often political, weighty articles like Viktor Bout.
In May 2022, a source mentioned the possibility of trading Bout for Greiner. “Newspapers.Ru” In the Moscow Region Public Monitoring Commission.
“Federal Prison Service staff have had preliminary discussions with Greiner about a possible trade for Viktor Bout,” he said. In response, socialbites.ca’s interlocutor at the Federal Penitentiary Service stated that “the decision to replace Bout with Greiner is probable, but extremely probable.”
Pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, a member of the Public Service who was replaced by American Trevor Reed in April, said: “Newspaper.Ru”Stating that he is very happy for Bout and his family, Bout also thanked the Russian Foreign Ministry and President Vladimir Putin.
“I just found out about him. I’m very happy. He was also unlawfully and unfairly sentenced to a heavy sentence, the case was fabricated and falsified. The fact that he’s flying home will soon be reunited with his family – I’m very happy for him. To our special services and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who, like me, is making a comeback to our president. Thank you very much. He returned to his homeland, like me, ”said Yaroshenko.
Victor Bout was arrested in Thailand on March 6, 2008 and subsequently extradited to the United States. A US court found the Russian guilty of conspiring to sell weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which Washington considers a terrorist organization. Bout pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Brittney Greiner was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022 for carrying an electronic cigarette with cannabis oil, in August a court in Khimki sentenced her to nine years in prison and a fine of 1 million rubles. The 31-year-old athlete pleaded guilty, but denied his intentions. In court, she stated that she would not violate the laws of the Russian Federation.
Initially, the American side insisted that they could only change the Russian Match under the “2 to 1” plan and offered to add another US citizen, Paul Whelan, to Greiner. As a result, he is still serving his sentence in a Russian colony.
On Thursday, Biden promised that the United States will continue negotiations to release Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in Russia in 2020. “Although we have not yet succeeded in releasing Paul, we are not giving up. We will never give up. We will continue to negotiate candidly for Paul’s release – I guarantee it,” he said.