The Kremlin confirmed that Russia is in talks with the United States to exchange prisoners held by each country after the United States state secretary disclosed a substantial proposal for a possible swap.Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington made the proposal weeks ago to facilitate the release of basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan.
CNN reported that the Biden administration has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout.A concrete result has not yet been reached, President Vladimir Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing Thursday, in the first indirect public confirmation of the existence of bilateral talks.Russias Foreign Ministry said earlier Thursday that President Vladimir Putin and United States counterpart Joe Biden had discussed the possible exchange at some point in the future, ordering their respective officials to conduct negotiations.Theyre ongoing.
Nothing has been achieved yet, the ministrys spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.Griner is currently facing up to 10 years in Russian prison for drug smuggling, a crime she has pleaded guilty to but said she did not commit intentionally.Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage charges, has repeatedly maintained that he is innocent.Bout, 55, is the highest-profile Russian prisoner serving time in the United States He inspired the 2005 arms smuggling movie "Lord of War" starring Nicolas Cage.Bout's wife Alla said on Wednesday the gun runner knew nothing about the possible exchange.The United States and Russia previously carried out one prisoner swap in the heat of the Ukraine war, with Washington exchanging former United States Marine Trevor Reed for convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko in April.AFP contributed reporting.