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Lavrov says Russia is ready to discuss prisoner swap with US after Griner conviction
(CNN)The US and Russia have indicated they are ready to hold talks over a prisoner swap, a day after basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison for carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil through a Moscow airport.
Russian government officials requested last month that a former colonel from the country's domestic spy agency, who was convicted of murder in Germany last year, be included in the US' proposed swap of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner and Paul Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Whelan, a US citizen, has been held by Russia since 2018 and was convicted by a Russian court in 2020 on espionage charges that he has strenuously denied. Griner's conviction has raised similar concerns that she is being used as a political pawn in Russia's war against Ukraine. The US State Department classifies the pair as wrongfully detained.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cn.../index.html#scso=_NAntYoulLN6ckPIPuNmOsAU75:0
Lavrov says Russia is ready to discuss prisoner swap with US after Griner conviction
(CNN)The US and Russia have indicated they are ready to hold talks over a prisoner swap, a day after basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison for carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil through a Moscow airport.
Russian government officials requested last month that a former colonel from the country's domestic spy agency, who was convicted of murder in Germany last year, be included in the US' proposed swap of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner and Paul Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Whelan, a US citizen, has been held by Russia since 2018 and was convicted by a Russian court in 2020 on espionage charges that he has strenuously denied. Griner's conviction has raised similar concerns that she is being used as a political pawn in Russia's war against Ukraine. The US State Department classifies the pair as wrongfully detained.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cn.../index.html#scso=_NAntYoulLN6ckPIPuNmOsAU75:0
