Bill Richardson, a diplomat and former governor of New Mexico, was in Moscow this week meeting with Russian officials as the United States continues its efforts to free WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, CNN reports.
Griner was arrested in February for possessing vape cartridges containing hashish oil at a Russian airport and recently pleaded guilty in a Russian court. According to a report by ESPN, her plea was part of a strategy aimed at making it easier for the U.S. and Russia to execute a successful prisoner swap. The Phoenix Mercury center was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 1 million rubles Aug. 9.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the former governor’s nonprofit, did not comment on the meetings when asked by CNN. Additionally, a senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration said that anyone “who’s going to Russia is going as a private citizen and they don’t speak for the U.S. government.”
In July, Cherelle Griner, Brittney’s wife, told ABC she asked the Richardson Center to help free the WNBA star.
In response to Richardson’s efforts, a senior administration official told CNN the White House has repeatedly reiterated the “significant offer” made to Russia in an attempt to free Griner and Whelan. Included in that deal, per previous reports, is a prisoner swap involving convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Richardson, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to ’98, played a role in the prisoner swap that brought home former Marine Trevor Reed after three years of imprisonment in Russia. Reed, like Griner, had a nine-year prison sentence.
