Days after securing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russian custody, US officials said they are “still negotiating” for the release of former US Marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden’s administration made a “very serious, specific proposal” for Mr Whelan and Ms Griner together, but “it just didn’t land anywhere ... with the Russians,” he told ABC’s This Week on 11 December, three days after Ms Griner returned to US soil.
