WBNA star Brittney Griner “looked great” and “gave the impression to be doing just nice” on her flight home to the US after being held in a Russian prison for an agonizing 10 months — but wasn’t taken with any alone time, eagerly talking to everyone aboard, a US hostage affairs official said Sunday.
Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens recounted the poignant moment when he met Griner on the tarmac within the United Arab Emirates to accompany her back to the US.
“I said, ‘Britney, my name is Ambassador Roger Carstens. I’m with the US Department of State. And on behalf of the President of america Joe Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinkem, I’m here to take you home,’” the envoy told host Dana Bashon on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“And at that moment I feel that all and sundry realizes that it’s going to occur, it’s setting in; actually Brittney felt that way.”
Griner, 32, was freed in a prisoner swap with international arms dealer Viktor Bout on Thursday after being busted at a Moscow airport with cannabis oil.
The Phoenix Mercury center was sent to a penal colony in Mordovia, Russia while the US negotiated her release with the warring nation.
After her ordeal, Carstens thought the hoopster would wish to spend the long flight home deep in thought, but Griner had other ideas.
“When she finally got on to the US plane, I said ‘Brittney, you will need to have been through lots over the past ten months. Here’s your seat, be happy to decompress, we’ll provide you with your space.’
“And she or he said, ‘Oh no. I’ve been in prison for 10 months now listening to Russian. I need to speak. But to start with, who’re these guys?’”
“And she or he moved right past me and went to each member on that crew, looked them within the eyes, shook their hands, asked about them, got their names, making a private reference to them,” Carstens recalled.
“She looks great. I mean, she was filled with energy, looked improbable. She’s in Port Sam Houston right away undergoing some medical evaluations, but she appears to be just nice,” he said.
Griner has not yet spoken publicly concerning the resolution or her time behind bars.
Carstens said as soon because the plane took off, he shifted his focus to fascinated with how the US can retrieve Paul Whelan, a former Marine who was accused of espionage by the Russians in 2018.
Whelan, 52, told the network last week he was “greatly dissatisfied that more has not been done” 4 years since he was imprisoned.
“I used to be arrested for against the law that never occurred,” Whelan told CNN from his penal colony. “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”
Carstens was tight-lipped on the plan to rescue Whelan, claiming he had to maintain his negotiation cards near the vest.
“I talked to him on Friday, the day after the swap, and here’s what I told him: I said, ‘Paul, you have got the commitment of this president; the president’s focused, the secretary of state’s focused, I’m actually focused, and we’re going to bring you home,” Carstens said.