The US and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, held in an American prison for 12 years. President Joe Biden said Griner was safe and on a plane home from the United Arab Emirates. "I'm glad to say Brittney's in good spirits... she needs time and space to recover," he said at the White House. Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possessing cannabis oil and last month sent to a penal colony. The Biden administration proposed a prisoner exchange last July, aware Moscow had long sought Bout's release.
Russia's foreign ministry confirmed the swap and said it had taken place at Abu Dhabi airport. "The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland," it said in a statement, although he was not yet thought to have arrived on Russian soil. Russian news agencies said he was still being flown to Vnukovo airport near Moscow. Speaking in the Oval Office, Griner's wife Cherelle praised the efforts of the Biden administration in securing her release: "I'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions."
As part of the prisoner exchange, President Biden signed the order for Bout's release, commuting his 25-year jail term. Viktor Bout sold arms to warlords and rogue governments, becoming one of the world's most wanted men. Dubbed the "merchant of death" for gun-running in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian's exploits inspired the 2005 Hollywood film Lord of War, which was loosely based on his life. His secretive career was brought to an end by an elaborate US sting in 2008, when he was arrested at a hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok, to the anger of the Russian government. He was extradited two years later and has spent the past 12 years languishing in an American jail for conspiring to support terrorists and kill Americans. Bout's circumstances could hardly be more different from that of his opposite number in the prisoner swap. Brittney Griner, 31, is one of the best-known sportswomen in America.
During the US basketball season, she is a star center for Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA. Her only reason for flying to Moscow was to play in Russia during the off-season in the US. She told her Russian trial that the cannabis oil found in her bag had been an "honest mistake".
In his tweet, President Biden posted a picture from the Oval Office alongside Griner's wife Cherelle. "Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home," he wrote. When negotiations began to secure Griner's release during the summer, the US also made clear it wanted ex-marine Paul Whelan to be freed as well. However, Whelan, accused by Russia of spying, was not part of the prisoner exchange. Speaking at the Oval Office, President Biden said that Russia was treating his case differently from Griner's for totally illegitimate reasons. "While we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release we have not given up; we will not give up," he vowed.
Whelan's brother, David, praised Griner's release and said US officials had warned the family in advance that Paul Whelan was not part of the exchange. "It's clear the US government needs to be more assertive," he said in a statement. "If bad actors like Russia are going to grab innocent Americans, the US needs a swifter, more direct response." President Biden urged Americans to take precautions before traveling overseas and warned of the risk of being wrongfully detained by a foreign government.
