In Russia, hopes are growing for a prisoner exchange with the United States. The ex-Soviet officer Viktor Bout (Russian: But), who was imprisoned in the US for arms trafficking, was also discussed. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said this in Moscow on Friday, Interfax news agency reports. “We have not yet come to a common denominator, but there is no doubt that Bout is one of those people who are being talked about,” said the senior diplomat. “And of course we hope for a positive result.”
Despite the tense relationship between Washington and Moscow, there have been talks about a prisoner exchange for months. According to US media reports, this was also an issue when the head of the US CIA, William Burns, and his Russian counterpart Sergey Naryshkin met in Istanbul in mid-November.
Wants to release convicted basketball player
The United States especially wants to release basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia on charges of drug smuggling. According to information from Thursday, the 32-year-old has been transferred to a penal camp in the Russian Republic of Mordovia in the greater Volga region. It is also about US citizen Paul Whelan, who is being held in Russia for alleged espionage.
Bout, known as the “dealer of death”, is accused of illegally arming regimes and rebels in numerous countries and was arrested in Thailand in 2008. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and has been detained in the United States since 2010.
Source: Krone
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