U.S. criticizes prisoner swap proposal
Russia is not serious about the initiative to exchange arms dealer Viktor Bout convicted in the US for Paul Whelan and former UMMC basketball player Britney Griner convicted in the Russian Federation. This was stated by the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House, John Kirby.
“Holding two Americans hostage because of a killer in a third country is not a serious counterproposal. This is an unscrupulous attempt to get away from a serious initiative put forward by the United States. We urge Russia to take this proposal seriously,” Kirby told CNN.
This is how Kirby spoke about a CNN publication that claimed Russia had offered to include another compatriot who was sentenced to life in Germany in the deal. Kirby said that the United States initiated a prisoner exchange a few weeks ago and tried to maintain contact with the Russian Federation.
CNN reported this week, citing sources, that U.S. offers to trade Wilon and Greiner for Booth. American Wilon was convicted in Russia for espionage, and Greiner was detained for drug smuggling. Russian businessman Viktor Bout has been in a US prison since 2008 for attempting to sell weapons and support terrorism. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the situation with the exchange of prisoners, reports the business publication “Sight“. Lavrov suggested Blinken not to speculate on a possible exchange, writes RT.
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Russia is not serious about the initiative to exchange arms dealer Viktor Bout convicted in the US for Paul Whelan and former UMMC basketball player Britney Griner convicted in the Russian Federation. This was stated by the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House, John Kirby. “Holding two Americans hostage because of a killer in a third country is not a serious counterproposal. This is an unscrupulous attempt to get away from a serious initiative put forward by the United States. We urge Russia to take this proposal seriously,” Kirby told CNN. This is how Kirby spoke about a CNN publication that claimed Russia had offered to include another compatriot who was sentenced to life in Germany in the deal. Kirby said that the United States initiated a prisoner exchange a few weeks ago and tried to maintain contact with the Russian Federation. CNN reported this week, citing sources, that the US was offering to trade Wheelon and Griner for Booth. American Wilon was convicted in Russia for espionage, and Greiner was detained for drug smuggling. Russian businessman Viktor Bout has been in a US prison since 2008 for attempting to sell weapons and support terrorism. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the situation with the exchange of prisoners, the Vzglyad business publication reports. Lavrov suggested Blinken not to speculate on a possible exchange, writes RT.