Russian President Vladimir Putin says more U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges are possible after Griner-Bout trade
Russian President Vladimir Putin says more U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges are possible after Thursday's Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout trade.
Brittney Griner arrived in the U.S. early Friday, landing at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas.
The WNBA star, who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for notorious international arms dealer Viktor Bout, bringing an end to an ordeal that sparked intense high-level negotiations between the Washington and the Moscow to secure her freedom.
Putin spoke Friday. Asked whether other prisoners could be swapped, Putin replied that "everything is possible," noting that "compromises have been found" to clear Thursday's exchange of Griner for Bout.
"We aren't refusing to continue this work in the future," he added.
Despite negotiating the swap for Griner, the most high-profile American jailed abroad, the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan. Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have said are baseless.
