Viktor Bout's Mother Asks Putin, Biden to Bring Her Son Back to Russia From US Prison

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Raisa Bout  — the mother of Russian entrepreneur Viktor Bout, who has served one-half of his 25-year sentence in a US prison — asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, ahead of their talks in Geneva to enable her son's return to his homeland.

Raisa Bout handed the text of her appeal over to Sputnik.

"I appeal to you with a plea for the return of my son to his homeland. I am nearly 85 years old, and if he has to be in the US prison for another half of his sentence, I most likely will not be here to meet him when he returns ... I can no longer go to America to visit my son for health reasons ... I ask you, as a mother who has been waiting for her son for many years: come to some kind of agreement, so that my son can return to me while I am still alive," Raisa Bout said in her letter.

The woman asked the presidents to have "Christian compassion and mercy" for the families of Russians serving sentences in US prisons and of Americans serving sentences in Russia.

"I only ask you, when you address issues of global importance, take a moment to look into the ill fate that befell our family and other families of Russians and Americans, who today are waiting for their sons, husbands, fathers, mothers, sisters, or wives from American and Russian prisons. Please give them and us, their families, a chance to be together, and not at such a huge distance from each other!" the letter read on.

In 2008, Bout was detained in Thailand on a US government request as a result of a sting operation by the US special services. Bout was then transferred to the United States where a court found him guilty of conspiring to kill US citizens and of supporting terrorism.