Russia frees US basketballer Brittney Griner in prisoner swap

The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for US President, but carried a heavy price — and left behind an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.

Biden says US has "not forgotten about Paul Whelan", will "never give up" trying to secure his release from Russia. Russian and US officials had conveyed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of strained negotiations, with Biden saying in November that he was hopeful that Russia would engage in a deal now that the midterm elections were completed. A top Russian official said last week that a deal was possible before year's end.

The Biden administration was ultimately willing to exchange Bout if it meant Griner's freedom. The detention of one of the greatest players in WNBA history contributed to a swirl of unprecedented public attention for an individual detainee case — not to mention intense pressure on the White House. The exchange was carried out despite deteriorating relations between the powers. But the imprisonment of Americans produced a rare diplomatic opening, yielding the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow — a phone call between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — in more than five months.

Besides the efforts of US officials, the release also followed months of backchannel negotiations involving Bill Richardson, the former US ambassador to the United Nations and a frequent emissary in hostage talks, and his top deputy Mickey Bergman.The men had made multiple trips abroad in the last year to discuss swap scenarios with Russian contacts.

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