Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the White House said. The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden, but carried a heavy price - and left behind an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the swap, saying in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the exchange took place in Abu-Dhabi and that Bout has been flown home Whelan's brother David said in a statement he was “so glad” for Griner's release but also disappointed for his family. He credited the White House with giving the Whelan family advance notice and said he did not fault officials for making the deal.
Griner’s arrest in February made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad. Her status as an openly gay Black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, infused racial, gender and social dynamics into her legal saga and made each development a matter of international importance.
Such a public overture drew a chiding rebuke from the Russians, who said they preferred to resolve such cases in private, and carried the risk of weakening the U.S. government's negotiating hand for this and future deals by making the administration appear too desperate. But the announcement was also meant to communicate to the public that Biden was doing what he could and to ensure pressure on the Russians.
NJ jfc Biden definitely took his goddamn time actually deciding to negotiate this exchange with Russia
LI We don’t want him/them back here
Changing a terrorist for this woman who does not respect the homeland kneeling with the National Anthem that is sung and does not respect the rules of another country, for a terrorist and leaving a sailor who fights for our homeland, fantastic Government 👊
SHE is a drug dealer... should of kept her there ... should of brung the other man home instead.
LI It's wild how so many people are pretending that Paul Whelan wasn't in Russia two whole years while trump was in office, why didn't he bring him home?
Who thinks BrittneyGriner will stand for the National Anthem now 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
NJ I believe that's a grave mistake only a Democrat and the Democrat party would be so foolish. I think treating a woman who went into a country with drugs that knew she shouldn't have should spend the time there but no instead what do the Democrats do. They trade for a mass murder.
NJ Bull he leaves a Marine behind 🤬
LI 😠😠😠😠😠
Seeing is believing
Gun runner for a small amount cannabis carrier.... fair trade... unbelievable. Just so very glad she is coming home. Now let's bring home the others.
I didn't know Leon Rose was in USA's front office as well
LI Biden continues to be an embarrassment to this country on a daily basis. He left a US Marine over there to rot while we traded an arms dealer for a celebrity who hates America and undeniably broke Russia’s laws.
briandonohue Sad. USMC has a brother still there for four years and they release someone who knowingly broke the law in that country. Just sad.
NJ Biden traded the 'Merchant of Death' arms dealer for a basketball player who had weed. Pathetic
NJ Bad trade
N12Sports Once again this administration prioritizes race and LBGQTXYZ 'rights' OVER law abiding upstanding American citizens and patriots!. The absolute pandering is grotesque!!!! I'm Ashamed to be an American TODAY!!
LattinaBrown Joe Biden didn’t read the art of the deal.
LI Brittney Griner released from Russian detention in swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, a former Soviet military officer serving 25-years in the US for conspiring to kill Americans, trafficking missiles & material support to a terrorist org.
Now when the arms dealer continues to sell and countless lives lost due to the weapons sold, the blood will be on Britney’s hands for she knew she was breaking the laws of another country! Not right!
NJ Hopefully we did better than the Bowe Bergdahl trade.
LI I’d say USA lost this trade. Fleecing of 2022. Glad we still have marines locked up over there BUT we got back a “woke” WNBA star. Good job USA, GREAT JOB
LI Who made this trade… Garth Snow?
NJ So, she's the same as an arms dealer?
What an even trade
Biden to announce Brittney Griner has been freed from a Russian prison in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout known as the “Merchant of Death”, this administration has no leverage, absolute embarrassment
CT What a mess of a country
LI We just gave Russia back one of the biggest terrorists in the world for a WNBA player who hates our country. Let that sink in.
NJ Will he still be taking a knee during the national anthem?
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