Blinken says the US has made Russia a , #Blinken #US #Russia Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
The US has made a “substantial proposal” to Russia to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, offering the first public look at US efforts to crack it down. couple home.
“In the coming days, I expect to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov for the first time since the start of the war,” Blinken said. “I intend to raise an issue that is a top priority for us: the release of Americans Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, who have been wrongfully detained and should be allowed to go home. We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have repeatedly and directly communicated that proposal.”
Blinken said President Biden is “directly involved” and he “signs up every proposal we make, especially when it comes to Americans arbitrarily detained abroad, including in this particular case.” The conversation between Blinken and Lavrov will be their first interaction since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
A White House official said on Wednesday that “a senior official” had reached out to the families of both Griner and Whelan ahead of Blinken’s announcement and is “holding talks with them today and tomorrow.”
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport on February 17 when customs officials said they found vape cartridges containing hash oil in her luggage. Whelan has been in Russian custody since December 2018 when he visited Russia for a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a Russian court and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan’s relatives welcomed the news of the offer and said they “hope the Russian government will respond to the US government and accept this or some other concession that will allow Paul to come home to his family.”
WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives at a hearing at the Khimki court, outside Moscow, on July 27, 2022.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
Russian media has speculated that Griner could be involved in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US for conspiracy to sell weapons to people who intended to kill Americans. On Wednesday, Blinken repeatedly declined to comment on a CNN report that the US offered Bolt in exchange for Griner and Whelan.
Steve Zissou, a lawyer for Bout, said in a statement that “this is a sensitive moment in these negotiations, so out of respect for the trial and the families involved, I have no further comment at this time.”
Biden approved a prisoner exchange in another case in April, when Russia released former Marine Trevor Reed, who had been held in Russia since 2019 on charges of assaulting two police officers and whose health was deteriorating. The US has released Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was serving a 20-year prison sentence for drug smuggling.
Griner, who played in Russia during the WNBA season, pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling on July 7, telling a Moscow court that she accidentally brought the substance into the country.
Speaking at her trial on Wednesday, she said the vape cartridges “went in my bags by accident…and I take responsibility, but I didn’t intend to smuggle or plan to smuggle.” [banned substances] to Russia.” Griner faces up to 10 years behind bars if convicted.
In the weeks following her arrest, Griner’s allies remained largely silent on her case, believing that Russian President Vladimir Putin would try to exploit her celebrity while waging war in Ukraine. Griner was detained less than a week before Russia invaded, sending US-Russia relations to an all-time low.
In May, the State Department said it had determined that Griner had been wrongly detained. Under a 2020 law, the classification shifted the handling of her case to the State Department’s special presidential envoy for hostage cases.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle, has since gone on to speak more openly, calling her a “political pawn” and urging Mr Biden to do more to secure her release.
“Initially, I was told… ‘We’re going to try and get this behind the scenes and let’s not raise its value and, you know, keep quiet,'” Cherelle Griner told CBS Mornings on July 6. , and with respect, we are currently over 140 days. That does not work.”
Speaking to Cherelle Griner later that day, Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris assured her that the administration was working to secure Griner’s release “as soon as possible,” according to a readout from the White House conversation. Biden also read to Cherelle Griner a draft of the letter he sent to Brittney Griner in response to a letter the WNBA star had written to him, begging him not to forget her and other inmates.
“I am terrified that I will be here forever,” Griner wrote in her letter to Mr. Biden.
As public pressure mounted on Mr. Biden to secure Griner’s release, families of other inmates grew frustrated with the lack of attention the president’s affairs of their loved ones had received.
Whelan’s family said they were “surprised” after Biden called Cherelle Griner, but she wasn’t. Mr Biden eventually called Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, after the family spent months seeking to meet with the president.
“President Biden assured me that the US government was doing everything it could to bring Paul back safely from his wrongful detention in Russia,” the family said in a July 9 email. “We spoke for a few minutes and I was touched by the President’s apparent concern and empathy for Paul’s plight and the Whelan family’s distress.”
On Wednesday, the family said they “appreciate it”[d] the Biden administration seeking Paul’s release using available resources.
Melissa Quinn and Arden Farhi contributed to this report.
Trending News
Caitlin Yilek