The Biden administration has secured the release of WNBA star Britney Griner from Russia in a prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US.
Griner was arrested in Russia on February 17 on a drug charge for the possession of cannabis oil in vape cartridges. In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison, but President Biden said Thursday that she’s on her way home.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Bout has already returned to Russia. “As a result of the efforts made, we managed to agree with the American side to arrange an exchange of Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner. The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Bout was first arrested in 2008 in a US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) sting operation in Bangkok, Thailand. He was extradited to the US in 2010 and sentenced in 2012.
In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the UAE said the swap was brokered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, but the White House denied the claim. “The only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Griner and Bout were exchanged at the Abu Dhabi airport in the UAE, and Jean-Pierre thanked the UAE for allowing its territory to be used for the swap. She also thanked Saudi Arabia for raising the issue of detained Americans with Russia but insisted the countries didn’t mediate the deal.
Biden has come under criticism for the deal because he failed to secure the release of Paul Whelan, a former US Marine. Whelan was arrested on spying charges in Moscow in 2018 with a USB that contained classified information and was handed a 16-year sentence in 2020.
Whelan maintains his innocence and says the USB was planted on him. When the Bout swap was initially discussed by Biden officials, Whelan was expected to be freed along with Griner, but the administration couldn’t secure both releases. “We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said Thursday. “We will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul’s release.”
The deal is the first diplomatic breakthrough between the US and Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, although Biden administration officials have made clear that the prisoner swap is an entirely separate issue from the war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has only held one known phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, since February, and the discussion was focused on the prisoner swap, not the war.
i doubt if russia would ever release the Whelan guy who IMO is an actual spy.
What does him possibly being “an actual spy” have to do with it? That would just make him better / more valuable exchange material.
the russians caught him spying, why would they release him when he is a feather in their cap. and we can only guess how many stupid arms dealers would a spy be worth.
“The russians say they caught him spying”
Fixed, no charge.
Do you believe everything every government says?
Can someone give me the realpolitik in this or what? I don’t see how this is a ‘win’ for the United States except for the immediate members of Griner’s family.
They gave up a allegedly notorious weapons dealer for a basketball player? Meanwhile, their actual spy is rotting away in Russian jail? Just goes to show : DO NOT HELP THE US, they won’t think twice about leaving you in the dust – and the CIA wonders why no one wants to be an agent
Does he have gangrene?>
An arms dealer from Russia is a “Merchant of Death” but an arms dealer from America is a freedom loving patriot with a shiitload of money. Or even the Secretary of Defense.
There’s no logic is there?…
Very logical. Unless you don’t know HOW logic works.
That was a tad snarky wasn’t it?…
Which Arms dealer should not be considered the “Merchant of Death”?
I call The USA is the biggest “Merchant of Death”.
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
Glad to hear Griner is coming home from the penal colony Russia recently sent her to.
Ridiculous that an American spy Paul Whelan was left to rot in a Russian prison so that Joey Biden’s shadow government could play political games.
The one is a spy, who one assumes would be aware of the risks involved in his actions and payed to do this kind of dangerous work, the other is a sportswoman presumably neither familiar with the risks of visiting a country which her native country was not at war with at the time, convicted to do jail time for 8 years for being in possession of cannabis oil, so fairly obviously (even if actually guilty of the crime) being held hostage to apply pressure on her native country.
Well I know who I would have my country free – i.e. the ‘innocent’ victim of my states policies, not the person who was engaged in the kind of actions that got the innocent of person held hostage. Am I a little surprised that you would argue for freeing the agent – I guess not that would be the actions of an autocratic state – i.e. free the person who held the highest military value to them.
I can reassure you that you are up to date on what is the reasoning in Russian State media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqUm9PSiANg
I have no sympathy for a low IQ POS druggy who thinks that she can flaunt the law of Russia and American law for that matter. Her punishment was less than the 10 years a Russian citizen would receive for smuggling drugs of any quantity into Russia.
If she had been caught in Singapore her punishment would have included being struck with a cane, a monetary fine, and jail time.
In some African countries she would have been taken behind the airport building and shot.
Many in the West need to get off their high horse and have a reality check. Many countries in the world have harsh punishments for being a stupid druggy!
As for Paul Whelan he did not volunteer to be caught and sent to prison for years. The problem with people who never served in the military is that you are too quick to throw the lives of service members under the bus. Thankfully people like you are not running the military.
Betcha wouldn’t feel that way if she was a straight white conservative.
Yes I would. Stupid people who travel to other countries should be aware of the local laws and not expect a get out of jail free outcome for stupid actions regardless of race, gender, or any other excuse.
FYI I do not support any group in America or the world.
I’m going to bet there are quite a few American groups you support. The oath keepers, the proud boys…
Let me guess you support drug use and use heroin. That makes as much sense as throwing a political leaning on someone.
NO, I support no groups left, right, or insane.
yes, I am a successful legal assistant and mother of three who uses heroin, lol. You got it, genius. Nothing gets past you.
And it’s very clear which group you support when you have said that you hope Russia “takes care” of all the Democrats in America.
You should recognize sarcasm when I call you out for telling me I most likely belong to far right wing fringe groups.
As for taking care of all Democrats let me modify that to all kleptocrat politicians from any and all parties.
Don’t forget the KKK. And the other guy who thinks drug dealers should get the death penalty. I bet he’s front row at his rallies.
And you are most likely a retarded numb skull muscle head. Most likely a marginal ability to read and write.
You sure do like making useless stupid comments though. Who types your comments for you?
Surely if she is of low IQ that speaks to a more lenient treatment for what was clearly not smuggling but possession – the hash oil she had was not a crime in the US – so what she would be guilty of according to you is being unaware of the fact that possession of even minute amounts of hash oil for personal consumption is a serious crime in Russia.
Does sound a little absurd 0.7 grams of hash oil amounts you would be able to extract from Willie Nelson’s clothes – really, if so kind of uncivilized.
For 0.7 gram of hash oil?
I think we are moving more and more towards decriminalizing things like hash – it is not a hard drug and we do not describe people who would drink the odd beer as alcoholics do we?
I did not imply he did, but he took an assignment he most knew was not without risk.
I was not proposing to throw his life away, I was proposing that we prioritize the lives of people who gets held hostage for the kind of actions we task people like Paul Whelan to carry out.
“I have no sympathy for a low IQ POS druggy….In some African countries she would have been taken behind the airport building and shot.”
Dear Career Seeker CRITICAL THINKER,
We have exciting news for you!
Based on the results of your career assessment and Empathy Quotient responses, we have identified a job that closely matches your skills and personality traits, though it will require relocation outside the US.
I already live in an Asian country where anyone caught with a half pound of cannabis or more than 20 oz of hard drugs gets an automatic death sentence by hanging. No excuses and no plea deals are allowed it is mandatory and relatively swift.
Maybe that is why there are no homeless encampments and no graffiti sprayed along the walls.
YES, my Empathy Quotient is zero for low IQ druggy trash who are too stupid to leave their drugs in America.
Perhaps you should stop fawning over this sports girl trash and get a life, unless you think she is royalty. In that case worship her as your god!
The hanging “is mandatory and relatively swift.”
Bet you know some interrogation tricks to make it slower ‘n funner.
“automatic death sentence by hanging. No excuses…allowed….Maybe that is why there are no homeless encampments and no graffiti sprayed along the walls.”
Cuz…your adopted government hangs the homeless in encampment spots, with a sign, ‘This is what homeless trash get when they camp here‘?
Don’t be a moron and learn how to read. Drug smuggling, possession, and dealing incur the death penalty. IF you can read?
“Perhaps you should stop fawning over this sports girl trash-”
Perhaps you should stop fantasizing and hunt her down – Execution style. Kneeling. Back o the skull. One shot.
No mercy for the guilty one.
Yer lucky? – right in front of her “girl trash” partner.
C’maaahn, ‘critical thinker’ – she never shoulda gotten outa that prison – you gonna let that uppity brown “sports girl trash” get away with that?
One question are you retarded or drugged out?
“One question are you retarded or drugged out?”
We’re playing role reversal. I’m being you. Fun, huh?
Once a dick, always a dick. And there is that low IQ thingy again. But maybe someday we can do what those African countries do and take her behind a building and shoot her a$$. Wouldn’t that be grand.
Great solution!
Man, you are one f*cking tool.
Written by the uneducated weight lifter with a muscle for a brain!
Wonder what would have happened if she’d been busted in Saudi Arabia…
Something terrible. But I would assume you’d be against that treatment too. At least I hope you would.
She might or might not be tried and sentenced to one to six months in prison, possibly with a whipping, before MBS figured out what ransom he’d like and got it.
Off with her head!
Whelan’s family is happy for Griner. Maybe you should be too.
Sour grapes would mean more time in Russia for Whelan
Or maybe they understand that it wasn’t her or him.
My Empathy Quotient is zero for low IQ druggy trash who are too stupid to leave their drugs in America.
Once again the lemmings in America buying into the Woke nonsense. Here is a clue; in many parts of the world possession of even small quantities of drugs smuggled in will bring a swift and fatal end.
Have you ever seen a Vape cartridge? They are less than half the size of my pinky.
Oh, and they’re legal in my state, but I guess I’m “druggie trash” 😂
Legal in your state is fine. Illegal in a foreign country is not fine. Obey the law!
So she wasn’t a druggie loser in the US but became one as soon as she crossed into Russia. Got it.
If a black person was caught littering, he’d call for the death penalty.
Wrong meat head. Lift some more weights maybe a few IQ cells will activate in your muscle head.
You really got nothing else, do you? The only reason I brought up powerlifting was because you accused me of being an ‘inner city druggie’ or some sort. You know, like you call everyone a retard? So, maybe you should think about picking up a weight since your comments resemble 5 graders calling each other names on the playground during recess.
Your EQ seems to correlate strongly to your IQ.
Casting aspersions is the bastion of the weak minded. If the shoe fits you wear it!
“Casting aspersions is the bastion of the weak minded.”
Thanks for the confession.
If CT invoked a racist stereotype against a member of a certain religious group, would that be considered a violation of the site’s rules? To be clear, I don’t think racists like CT should be banned from the site. It is better to flame them. But is there a double standard when racist disparaging stereotypes are invoked agaisnt African-Americans?
I highly doubt he is a spy employed by the US. He may have fancied himself as a free-lance spy. Very doubtful the CIA would hire a dishonorably discharged individual as a result of a General Court-Martial.
“Very doubtful the CIA would hire a dishonorably discharged individual as a result of a General Court-Martial.”
Why not? There seems to be a reasonable likelihood that they hired a defector who returned from Russia and was accused of assassinating a president.
Accused is correct. Oswald said he was a “patsy” and told them to get him out of Dallas.
He may have been a patsy.
He was almost certainly a CIA asset.
Maybe or perhaps that is a great cover story.
Whelan served with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003-2008, much of the time as an administrative clerk in Iraq. At the end of that period, he was dishonourably discharged for larceny and other lesser offences, after being found to have tried to steal $10,000.
Maybe yes and maybe no: Like I said a great cover story just like Lee Harvey Oswald.
Maybe a bigger cover story is that he was employed by the US as a spy.
Marc Fogel, a teacher sentenced for the same exact crime as Griner, remains in jail in Russia as well. Whereas the marine was a spy situation, a little harder to negotiate. Happy for Griner but this is disgusting in that the privileged, wealthy and famous get “justice” and the unknowns get ignored. I mean, would Russia have rejected the deal if he was thrown in? Did anyone even ask? This is about fame and positive political headlines and nothing else. Also not a surprise U.S. leaders don’t feel that negatively towards an arms dealer, particularly vs. a celebrity.
Black privilege?
Celebrity privilege. If it had been ScarJo or Sean Penn, same thing would have happened.
Thanks for the spin, Tom.
It isn’t spin. The more famous and richer tend to get priority.
“Russian intelligence is apparently as clueless as U.S. intelligence.
The Russkies were holding an American citizen who hit ALL the media’s erogenous zones:
Black – CHECK!
Lesbian – CHECK!
In a gay marriage – CHECK!
Brought hashish and vaping cartridges into Russia – CHECK!
Played for the WNBA – CHECK!”
–Ann Coulter Substack.
I missed a few other items other than her racial and political status.
The Russians were interested in detaining someone well-known enough to make good prisoner swap bait due to public pressure.
They succeeded.
Most of the mutual hostage-taking is less celebrity-oriented. The regimes involved (including the US) choose people either connected to the other regime, or connected to people with some juice to pressure the other regime. Paul Whelan, for example, was an employee of a $16 billion company and with three citizenships, making multiple regimes that could be pressured to ransom him. I suspect if you look at the Iranians the US regime abducts as supposed spies, most of them will have relatives in positions of influence in Tehran.
It’s just a little game regimes like to play with each other at everyone else’s expense.
Am I incorrect in assuming that Griner was/is in actuality a man?
Brittney is a woman.
As far as I know, she’s playing with a XX karyotype in her genetic code.
Yes, you’re incorrect.
Okay, thanks to all who replied.
IMHO, she looks and talks like a man. I thought perhaps she had her gender reassigned.
Would that matter?
Well, yes, Wars, IMHO.
I don’t believe that genetic males should be able to compete against genetic females. It’s obvious that it gives them an unfair advantage, except in sports like horseback riding, in which case the horse is the real star.
And while I could outrun all my friends’ brothers in high school (track and field was the only sport available for us girls), I don’t think that even the likes of Jackie Joyner Kersey could have outrun Hussein Bolt.
I was only talking about regarding her release. I misunderstood your comment. Sorry.
NP Wars! 🙂
NP Wars! 🙂
“The horse is the real star.. ” My wife and I are constantly noting in movies (and history) the hero rides one or several heroic horses into the ground only to be proclaimed the hero!
If that was the case, she would have been a lot more well-known, and a lot more controversial, prior to her abduction. Hell, there are news stories and outrage theater every time a trans kid goes out for Pop Warner football.
“prior to her abduction”
perfect description
How do you define “man”?
There are various definitions at this point in time.
But primarily, someone who was born with with a penis and testicles.
Am I wrong here?
Hardly. They know that each and every one of the things you posted are also vehemently opposed in this country. They couldn’t have picked a better person to drive a wedge even deeper between the different factions in this country. Killed a whole bunch of birds with one little stone.
Plus, Russia knows this will sow discontent. And they’ve been proven right.
Poor her. And I mean that. She is going to get a lot of shit thrown her way. Glad she got released but I was hoping she would be a throw in. For her sake.
Are you serious? She will have a book deal in no time
Dead serious. Listen to Trump, Trump jr., Mrs.Ed (MTG) and the rest of the GOP. This woman was an “America hater” after all and she is to blame for other Americans not being released. Yeah, good luck with that book deal.
Oh, please!!!
I think the US press will be very forgiving. It will be mostly forgotten in a week or so. It will depend on if she does interviews.
I agree about the press. But there is a large faction(s) out there that are pissed. Trump jr. brought up the fact she won’t stand for the national anthem. So, add the obligatory racists and homophobes and you have quite an array of those who won’t let it die.
The only celebrity she enjoyed was being a captive of Russia.
Well, other than being noticed by basketball fans as a three-time All-American, eight-time All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist, the only NCAA basketball player to ever score 2,000+ points and block 500+ shots, etc. But yeah, other than that kind of stuff there, nobody ever heard of her.
I heard on the radio, most Americans can’t even name an NBA “star”; so yes, she was a relative unknown. About as noticeable as a QB with the USFL.
I’d never heard of her.
Who follows women’s basketball?
That’s kind of like following soccer 😁
Though I am rooting for Croatia, but only because Hubs is Croatian on his mom’s side.
Game attendance and TV viewership doesn’t match male sports, but it comes to several thousand physical attendees and several hundred TV viewers for regular season games. Not as popular as Keeping Up With the Kardashians but somewhere in the popularity mix between Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity.
I don’t “keep off with the Kardashians” myself, nor watch cable news. I do enjoy MLB and NFL football, as well as college football and basketball. Hockey? Pffft…soccer on skates.
That being said, I’m not much of a tv watcher, Thomas, with one glaring exception: “Yellowstone”. No one is allowed to call me, speak to me, cough, sneeze or in any other way distract me from this program.
Smokin’ hot cowboys and smokin’ hot horses…this show OWNS ME! 😁
Haven’t watched Yellowstone yet. I may binge it someday after it’s over. I don’t watch much TV. I prefer to pick a single movie to watch rather than try to keep up with (or binge my way through) a series.
Thomas!!!!
You MUST watch Yellowstone!
You’ll be mesmerized by the scenery if nothing else. It is violent and profane, but hey…it’s a contemporary western.
I’m sure I will watch it at some point. But I don’t subscribe to Paramount Plus and don’t plan to. I do really like the looks of that prequel with Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford.
Thomas I don’t have Paramount Plus either (would LOVE to see “1923”) but Yellowstone is on the regular Paramount network, just in case you want to give it a look-see 🙂
Ah yes, HGH + testosterone is so well-known for spectacular results, it’s not worth keeping records.
“US, Russia Agree to Swap Britney Griner for Victor Bou-”
Bout??? I’d a’ definitely held out for Kevin Durant.
Who gives a rat’s ass?
Amerikkka can negotiate for the release of ONE individual, but can’t say a word to potentially prevent nuclear Armageddon.
Clearly an athlete signifies more importance than the entire planet.
How does one type a “ raspberry”?
Lets also remember an athlete who brought drugs into Russia. I remember when the Russian athletes were banned from the Olympics because they were drug cheats (BS story btw).
Good analogy. Not.
Doom, your logic is predictable and impeccable. But the commenters who upvote you fantastical claims don’t have an excuse. What is happening to this site? The debate used to be logical and people would call out idiotic comments.
” your logic is predictable and impeccable. But the commenters who upvote you fantastical claims don’t have an excuse.”
wow genius, if his “logic is impeccable” then the commenters who upvote his claims do indeed have an excuse.
“What is happening to this site? The debate used to be logical and people would call out idiotic comments.”
i kind of just did, didn’t i.
We have got to the point where saying truth gets you bullied harassed and cancelled. We have got to a point where global corruption (fascism) is leading us to war as it did in WW1 and WW2. Civil society has been destroyed by corrupt criminal authorities.
“;PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp”
That’s close enough! 😉
I don’t see how one has anything to do with the other. It’s obvious that Russia was using this woman as a pawn and the reaction from our empathetic folk here, and the reaction from the GOP, makes it obvious that their plan worked. Not negotiating her release wouldn’t have brought anyone to the negotiating table to end the war.
https://media4.giphy.com/media/tIeCLkB8geYtW/giphy.gif https://media4.giphy.com/media/l0HlP2ms0eUc5nlHG/giphy.gif
😂
Smart they r well aware and exploiting the fissures within us
This piece of sh*t “athlete” did a lot of damage to herself, the US, and the world.
Swapping her for a Death Dealer?
I would have let her rot in the Russian jail.
She (quite possibly accidentally) took her medication to a place where it was illegal, which became a pretext for abducting her and holding her for ransom.
I don’t know whether you’re an athlete or not, but you’ve definitely got the piece of sh*t credentials.
i am going to change my screen-name to ‘Dead Horse’
Oh please NO!
You know how much I love horses!
But I get your inflection there 😉
It’s hard to take this any way but cynically, while Julian Assange rots in prison.
I don’t see the connection. If there was a chance Assange could be “swapped” for someone, then I could see your point. The fact this woman was released should make everyone happy. Period. One less human being caged is a good thing.
Your last sentence catches it. Were there any concern for the suffering of a fellow human, Washington would release the wrongly imprisoned hostage of their own.
Yes. But that shouldn’t piss off anyone because Griner got released.
Not pissed, cynical, …unwilling to hand out kudos.
And I still think it’s misplaced. It wasn’t either Griner or Assange.