Amid Brittney Griner trial, Russia says prisoner swaps 'difficult'
Reuters
7/7/2022
© Reuters/EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA
U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner attends a court hearing in Khimki
(Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that it was difficult to exchange prisoners with the United States and suggested Washington be silent about the fate of Brittney Griner, the U.S. basketball star detained in Russia on drugs charges.
Referring to a letter that U.S. President Joe Biden intends to send to Griner according to NBC news, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that "hype" around the case does not help, and that "this kind of correspondence does not help".
The United States and Russia swapped prisoners in late April when Moscow released former U.S. marine Trevor Reed from a Russian prison and, in return, Washington freed Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who had been jailed on drug trafficking charges in the United States.
The exchange came as the ties between the two countries sank to their worst in decades over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Video: Brittney Griner set to appear in Russian court (ABC News)
-
WaPo: Classified docs linked to nuclear weapons sought in FBI search
CNN -
Rep. Stefanik on FBI raid: This is blatant politicization
FOX News -
Nixon White House lawyer makes prediction about Trump
CNN -
Meet Ukraine’s wounded warriors recovering at a rehab center
CBS News -
DOJ, FBI ‘operate in a vacuum’: Former federal prosecutor
FOX News -
Former NY lawmaker calls on Hochul to apologize for DeSantis remark
FOX News -
Matt Whitaker on Mar-a-Lago raid: The DOJ is tone deaf
FOX News -
Trump announces support for releasing Mar-a-Lago search warrant
CBS News -
What to buy (and what to skip) when back-to-school shopping
TODAY -
Two senators speak about recent strokes
CBS News -
Scott Peterson makes final push for a new trial
TODAY -
Schumer: Democrats showing we can get a lot done, and that will serve us well in November
MSNBC -
'It's going to come back and bite him': See Watergate icon's Trump prediction
CNN -
Anne Heche "not expected to survive" injuries suffered in car crash
CBS News -
Suspect killed in standoff after trying to breach an Ohio FBI field office
CBS News -
The significance of the Department of Justice's motion to unseal Trump warrant
CBS News
-
WaPo: Classified docs linked to nuclear weapons sought in FBI search The Washington Post reported that the FBI sought to locate classified documents related to nuclear weapons, among other items, when agents searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. CNN's John Berman spoke with reporter Shane Harris who broke the story.
CNN
-
Rep. Stefanik on FBI raid: This is blatant politicization Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., rips Biden's DOJ for blatant politicization against Trump after the raid on Mar-a-Lago.
FOX News
-
Nixon White House lawyer makes prediction about Trump Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean joined CNN's Wolf Blitzer to discuss Attorney General Merrick Garland's press conference and the Justice Department's move to unseal the FBI warrant authorizing a search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
Griner was arrested on Feb. 17 at Moscow's Sheremteyevo airport, after cannabis-infused vaporiser cartridges were allegedly found in her lugggage. She faces 10 years in prison on drugs charges.
She went on trial last week and her next hearing is due to start on Thursday.
Since Reed's release, calls to the Biden administration to do more to secure the freedom of Griner and other Americans detained in Russia and elsewhere overseas have intensified.
On Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the phone with Cherelle Griner, the basketball star's wife, assuring her to do "whatever is necessary" to secure the release of the two-time Olympic gold medalist as soon as possible.
(Reporting by Reuters; additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Angus MacSwan)
Reuters
