A Russian diplomat has confirmed that Moscow is willing to negotiate a prisoner exchange deal with the US involving basketball player Brittney Griner and arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the statement on Sunday evening in a state television program.
“I would like to stress once again [that] the Russian side is ready for a professional conversation and concrete steps in this area. But only professionally. People who are to deal with these matters are ready,” she said during the interview.
Bout, also known as ‘The Merchant of Death’, was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and then extradited to the United States. He was convicted of conspiring to kill Americans in 2011 and is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Griner was arrested on February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after authorities said they found cannabis oil in her possession. She pleaded guilty in July to drug charges but has maintained that she only used medicinal cannabis to treat pain and denied intending to violate Russian law.
A possible prisoner exchange was among the topics of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 29.