Biden Administration Pitches Prisoner Exchange With Russia to Free Griner, Whelan

President Joe Biden’s administration has pitched a prisoner swap with Russia that would free female American basketball player Brittney Griner and businessman Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 27. “We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal,” Blinken told reporters in Washington. Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, convicted of conspiring to kill Americans and supporting terrorists in 2011, would be freed in the deal, according to reports. Bout was described by then-Attorney General as “one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.”…