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Russian officials responded Thursday to reports from the Biden administration that a “substantial proposal” was offered to take home. WNBA player Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, stating that no agreement has been finalized.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a news conference Wednesday that the Biden administration made the proposal weeks ago, but made no mention of an agreement that included Viktor Bouta Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” who several reports pointed to as part of a possible prisoner swap.
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted into a courtroom for a hearing in Khimki, Russia, outside Moscow, Wednesday, July 27, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP)
Asked about the proposal during a news conference the next day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said prisoner swaps were usually negotiated quietly behind the scenes.
US OFFERS ‘SUBSTANTIAL OFFER’ TO BRING BRITTNEY GRINER, PAUL WHELAN HOME FROM RUSSIA
“We know that these issues are discussed without any disclosure of information,” he said. “Normally, the public learns about it when the agreements are already implemented.”
Peskov stressed that “no deal has been finalized” and declined to give further details.
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018, stands inside a defendant’s cage as he awaits his verdict on June 15, 2020. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV /AFP via Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said separately that while the Kremlin and US officials have held talks, “there has been no concrete outcome yet.”
“We start from the assumption that the interests of both parties must be taken into account during negotiations,” he said.
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Rebekah Koffler, a Russian-born former US intelligence officer and expert on Russia and Vladimir Putintold Fox News Digital on Thursday that this back-and-forth between Russia and the Western media can make it difficult to “predict” what’s coming.
“It is difficult to predict now exactly the outcome of these negotiations because, on the one hand, the Russians want Viktor Bout back, as he is a former military intelligence officer with probable indirect links to Putin himself,” he explained .
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting in Moscow on April 22, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“On the other hand, with the counterproductive narrative coming out of Washington: calling Putin a war criminal (even if he deserved it), the Senate passed a resolution yesterday, which seeks to designate Russia as a ‘sponsor of terrorism.’ .. and the general crisis in US-Russian relations, Washington’s expectation that Russia will play ball with them is naive.”
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He continued: “Putin knows that President Biden is under pressure to bring these Americans home, amid his rapidly declining domestic popularity; he will almost certainly try to squeeze concessions from the Biden administration. Putin is in no rush to accept Washington’s proposal.
Griner pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge earlier this month. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Grinner pleaded guilty to a drug-trafficking charge earlier this month, adding that it was his “intention” not to violate Russian law. The US State Department has classified Griner as “detained in error”. He admitted that he was in possession of vaping cartridges containing cannabis-derived oils, but had no intention of breaking the law. He could face up to 10 years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Paulina Dedaj is a digital reporter for Fox News and Fox Business. Follow Paulina Dedaj on Twitter at @PaulinaDedaj. If you have a tip, you can email Paulina at Paulina.Dedaj@fox.com