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Russian officials Thursday responded to reports that a “substantial proposal” from the Biden administration would be brought home WNBA player Britney Griner Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan claims no deal has been reached.
Secretary of State Antony Brinken said at a press conference Wednesday that the Biden administration had made the proposal weeks ago, but Victor Bouta Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death”, is mentioned in some reports as being part of a potential prisoner exchange.
Asked about the proposal at a press conference the next day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said prisoner exchanges are usually carefully negotiated behind the scenes.
US offers ‘substantial offer’ to bring Britney Greiner and Paul Whelan home from Russia
“I know that such matters are discussed without disclosing such information,” he said. can do.”
Peskov stressed that “the deal is not final,” and declined to provide further details.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Kremlin and U.S. officials were holding talks, but “no concrete results have been reached yet.”
“It’s based on the premise that negotiations need to take into account the interests of both sides,” she said.
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Rebecca Koffler, Russian-born former U.S. intelligence officer Expert on Russia and Vladimir Putintold Fox News Digital on Thursday that this exchange between Russian and Western media could make it difficult to “predict” what might happen.
“It is difficult at the moment to predict the outcome of these negotiations with precision, because Russia wants Viktor Bout back, because he may have an indirect connection to Putin himself. because he’s a former military intelligence officer with a high salary,” she explained.
“On the other hand, in a counterproductive story coming out of Washington – calling Putin a war criminal (though he may deserve it), the Senate yesterday decided to designate Russia a ‘supporter of terrorism. – and given the overall crisis in U.S.-Russia relations, Washington’s expectation that Russia would play along with them is naive. ”
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“President Putin knows that President Biden is under pressure to bring these Americans home amidst his rapidly declining popularity at home. He will almost certainly make concessions from the Biden administration. Putin is in no hurry to accept Washington’s proposal.”
Greiner plead guilty She added that her “intent” was not to violate Russian law. The US State Department classified Griner as “wrongfully detained.” She admitted that she had e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis-derived oil, but she had no intention of breaking the law. She could face up to 10 years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.