American basketball star Brittney Griner arrived in the United States early Friday, December 9, 2022 after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly 10 months of detention in Russia.
Griner was seen getting off a plane that landed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
The deal, which saw her swapped for notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout, secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden.
However, the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.
Whelan was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation.
He was convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial that US officials denounced as unfair.
In a phone interview, Whelan intimated that he was happy Griner was released but expressed disappointment in his continued Russian detention.
Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Baylor University All-American and Phoenix Mercury pro basketball star.
Her status as an openly gay Black woman, detained in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, infused racial, gender and social dynamics into her legal saga and brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.
Biden’s authorization to release Bout, the Russian felon once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” underscored the heightened urgency that his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case on drug charges and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony.
Griner’s First Stop Expected To Be At Medical Treatment Facility
According to John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, Brittney Griner’s first stop back on US soil will likely be at a medical treatment facility.
Griner could also take part in a Department of Defense Program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) to help her adapt back to normal life.
Americans detained abroad, like Marine Corps veteran, Trevor Reed and the seven Americans who returned from Venezuela in October, also participated in PISA.
Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Roger Carstens, who traveled with Griner, confirmed her arrival on Twitter.
A senior administration official divulged that the Biden administration believes the Russian government will continue to engage with the United States on the issue of Russian and US nationals detained in each other’s country.
Moscow knows that the two sides will reach “a mutually acceptable arrangement if they keep talking to us,” the official added.
Demands related to the war in Ukraine, however, did not come up in the negotiations to secure Griner’s release and attempt to secure Whelan’s, the official said, adding that the US would not make concessions on that front.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that the exchange of Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout is not a sign of improvements in the relations between Russia and the United States.
“The negotiations dealt exclusively with the topic of the exchange. It would be wrong to draw any hypothetical conclusions that this could be a step out of the crisis that we are having in bilateral relations. Bilateral relations remain in a sorry state.”
Dmitry Peskov
Bout has also reached Russia. Peskov said the Kremlin wishes him a “speedy rehabilitation”
