A planned trip to Russia to aid in the fight to free Brittney Griner is no longer in the cards for Dennis Rodman, according to ABC News.
The Basketball Hall of Famer informed the news outlet on Monday that he currently doesn’t have plans to travel to the country, despite announcing Aug. 20 during an interview with NBC News that he planned to help the detained WNBA star.
“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman, 61, said at the time. “I’m trying to go this week.”
Griner, 31, has been in Russian custody since February following her arrest at a Moscow-area airport for possessing hashish oil in her luggage. She was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony on Aug. 4 after being convicted of smuggling drugs with criminal intent following a monthlong trial.
Rodman’s canceled trip comes on the heels of comments made by the Biden Administration on Monday discouraging his intended visit. When asked about the former NBA star’s plans during a briefing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price discussed the importance of keeping the negotiations within the “established channel” to avoid complicating discussions regarding Griner’s release.
“We believe that anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder those release efforts,” Price said, per The Hill. Price also said that Rodman would not be traveling to Russia on behalf of the U.S. government; although he initially said he received permission to visit the country, NBC reported Rodman would need only a visa from Moscow to make the trip.
The latest reports concerning the U.S. government’s involvement in securing Griner’s release centered on talks of a potential prisoner swap of Griner and Paul Whelan, a Marine who has been in custody since 2018, for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. Price also provided an update on those discussions on Monday.
“I said last week that we had engaged in discussions with Russian counterparts on this. Those discussions are ongoing,” Price said, per ABC. “We’ve made very clear, as we have publicly, that we proposed a substantial proposal, we called it, for the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner.”
