Russia said Thursday through its State Department that “quiet diplomacy” (talks between two nations) is underway with the United States over an exchange of prisoners in each of those countries.
The American Brittney Griner, two-time Olympic champion and two-time world champion, who was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in prison for drug trafficking (she possessed therapeutic cannabis on doctor’s prescription, but which is illegal in Russia), could be included in this exchange. She appealed her conviction last Monday.
“If Washington Doesn’t Fall Into Propaganda”
Ivan Nechayev, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry
The US government has offered to trade Griner for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US.
“There’s a quiet diplomacy going on that should bear fruit if Washington follows it and doesn’t engage in propaganda, through hype, to score points ahead of an election,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ivan Nechayev said, referring to the US Mid term elections scheduled for next November.