Russian officials released a statement on Friday regarding the progress of negotiations on Brittney Griner's potential release from prison. This was seen by many as a significant development considering how it was the Russian government itself that appeared to exhibit its willingness to strike a potential deal with the U.S. that will facilitate the release of the WNBA star.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov implied that a possible prisoner exchange deal involving jailed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is in the works with the United States government:
“We haven't found common ground yet, but, undoubtedly, Viktor Bout is among those being discussed and obviously we are hoping for a positive result,” Ryabkov reportedly said (h/t T.J. Quinn of ESPN). “The Americans are showing certain activity and we are working on this through appropriate channels.”
Unfortunately, it seems that the statement from the Russian foreign minister does not coincide with their government's actions. The U.S. State Department has now released its own statement that strongly refutes Russia's supposed willingness to negotiate Griner's release:
“We are not going to comment on the specifics of any proposals other than to say that we have made a substantial offer that the Russian Federation has consistently failed to negotiate in good faith,” the statement said. “The U.S. Government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with the Russian government. The Russian government's failure to seriously negotiate on these issues in the established channel, or any other channel for that matter runs counter to its public statements.”
It appears as though the State Department is challenging the Russians to put their money where their mouth is. If they're saying that they are willing to negotiate a deal, then it is clear that the U.S. government demands that they act like it.
Brittney Griner was also recently transferred to a Russian penal colony to serve her nine-year prison sentence. At one point, her whereabouts were unknown due to the fact that the Russian government failed to provide any information with regard to the transfer. Fortunately, further updates from Griner's legal team reported that the Phoenix Mercury star is currently situated in a penal colony roughly 200 miles outside the Russian capital of Moscow.
“While we are glad her legal team was able to visit her, the fact is that the Russian Federation has still failed to provide any official notification of such a move,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to call on Russia to live up to their legal obligations to provide the United States timely consular access to Ms. Griner so we can provide critical consular assistance throughout her detention. That's difficult to do when we haven't been notified where she is.”
The United States government is obviously unhappy with how the Russians are handling Griner's case, and the State Department wasn't shy about calling them out for it.
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