US Reportedly Offers Moscow Prisoner Exchange: Russia's Viktor Bout for Americans Griner and Whelan

Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 on charges of espionage, while the WNBA star Brittney Griner was detained in 2022 after a liquid containing hashish oil – a controlled substance according to Russian law – was found in her luggage by customs officers.

Washington offered to release Russian national Viktor Bout, whom the US accuses of illegal weapons trade, in exchange for two American citizens imprisoned in Russia: corporate security director Paul Whelan and the professional basketball player Brittney Griner, CNN has reported citing anonymous sources.

"We communicated a substantial offer that we believe could be successful based on a history of conversations with the Russians. We communicated that a number of weeks ago, in June", an unnamed official told CNN.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in turn, stated during his speech on July 27 that the Biden administration has proposed a deal to Moscow that could result in Whelan and Griner's release. He noted that President Joe Biden was personally involved in the effort. However, the top diplomat refused to name what, or whom, Washington was offering to Moscow in exchange for the two imprisoned Americans.

Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison two years later on charges of espionage, despite denying his involvement in court. He has US, British and Irish citizenship. Another US national that is purportedly part of the deal proposed by the US, Brittney Griner, was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow after customs officers found vaporizer cartridges containing hash oil – a controlled substance as per Russian laws. She has not been sentenced yet and her trial is still ongoing.

The Russian whom the White House is reportedly willing to trade for the two is entrepreneur Viktor Bout, who was arrested in Thailand in 2008 on a US warrant and later convicted to 25 years in prison on charges of weapons trafficking and other crimes. Bout strongly denies the accusations, with Moscow condemning his arrest and detention as a "kidnapping" of a foreign national by Washington.