The Biden administration is bringing WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for 10 months, home for the vacations after months of negotiation. She’s expected to be on U.S. soil inside 24 hours.
“She is protected, she is on a plane, she is on her way home,” President Joe Biden announced Thursday after speaking with Griner by phone. “She is going to soon be back within the arms of her family members, and he or she must have been there all along.”
Biden was joined on the White House to make the announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner.
“Today I’m standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but a very powerful emotion that I actually have at once is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration,” Cherelle Griner said on the White House.
Brittney Griner was arrested Feb. 17 for possessing two vape cartridges containing hashish oil while traveling through an airport near Moscow. She was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges in August and transferred to a penal colony in November.Â
In exchange for Griner’s release, the U.S. agreed to release imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, often known as the “Merchant of Death.” In 2011 Bout was convicted by a Latest York jury on 4 counts, including conspiring to kill Americans, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the trade “was not a choice that the president made frivolously.”
Cherelle Griner was present and capable of speak with Brittney when Biden made the decision from the Oval Office. The couple then had a non-public conversation within the president’s study, a senior administration official said.
The detainment of Griner, 32, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, has been a flashpoint in fraught relations between the U.S. and Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. She is going to fly to a medical facility in San Antonio to receive treatment, where Cherelle will meet her, a senior administration official told NBC News.
Notably absent from the swap was one other American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, who has been in Russian custody since 2018. Whelan, a company security director and former Marine, was given a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted of spying in 2020.
Biden said it was not his decision to depart Whelan out of the swap. U.S. officials spent months attempting to negotiate a cope with Russia that included each Whelan and Griner.
“We have not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said. “Sadly for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case in another way than Brittney’s.”
In an announcement, Whelan’s brother David Whelan stressed the family was thrilled to listen to of Griner’s release.
“The Biden Administration made the best decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, quite than waiting for one which wasn’t going to occur,” David Whelan said.
Cherelle Griner said she and Brittney will proceed to work to bring Whelan, and other Americans in custody abroad, home.
“BG’s not here to say this, but I’ll gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I’ll remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we rejoice BG being home,” Cherelle Griner said.
Jean-Pierre said she expects Biden to talk to the Whelan family Thursday, or after they are able to. She stressed U.S. officials did all they may to attempt to bring each Americans home, but ultimately only Griner might be released.
“The Russians weren’t willing to barter in good faith for the discharge of Paul Whelan right now.”
The swap took place within the United Arab Emirates, and Biden thanked the U.A.E. for its aid in his remarks Thursday morning, as did Blinken in an announcement.
Biden has already successfully negotiated a prisoner swap with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. In April the countries agreed to swap Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine imprisoned in Russia, for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was convicted on cocaine trafficking charges.
David Whelan said in an announcement on behalf of the family that they were grateful to be notified Paul wouldn’t be included within the swap ahead of time, unlike when Reed was released in April. Paul was also notified of Griner’s release, Jean-Pierre said.
“As I actually have often remarked, Brittney’s and Paul’s cases were never really intertwined,” Whelan said. “It has all the time been a robust possibility that one may be freed without the opposite. The emotions I shared in April about Trevor are unchanged: that is the event we wish for thus much for our family. She might be reunited together with her family. Brittney is free. And Paul continues to be a hostage.”
Correction: The headline on this text has been updated to reflect the proper spelling of Brittney Griner’s name.
