President Joe Biden will meet Friday with the families of a pair of Americans being held in Russia, after the U.S. publicly floated a swap to win their release.
Biden will meet with Cherelle Griner, wife of detained WNBA Star Brittney Griner, and Elizabeth Whelan, sister of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, to assure them that their detained family members “remain front of mind,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“While I would love to say that the purpose of this meeting is to inform the families that the Russians have accepted our offer, and we are bringing their loved ones home, that is not what we’re seeing in these negotiations at this time,” Jean-Pierre said.
She added: “As we have said, the Russians should accept our offer, they should accept our offer today. We will keep working diligently until the day we get to share that good news.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in August that the U.S. had made a “substantial” proposal to Russia to try to secure Griner and Whelan’s release.
The Biden administration earlier proposed swapping Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “merchant of death” who was sentenced to 25 years in 2012, and a second Russian also held in a U.S. jail, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Whelan was jailed in Russia in 2020 on spying charges he denies.
Griner, 31, was convicted of drug possession and smuggling following her arrest at a Moscow airport after customs officials found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
She has appealed the nine-year prison sentence imposed by a Moscow court.
Biden has called Griner’s punishment “unacceptable” and said the White House would work tirelessly for her release.
