The United States and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star, Brittney Griner, for notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout, held in an American prison for 12 years.
President Joe Biden said Griner was safe and on a plane home-bound from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“I’m glad to say Brittney’s in good spirits.. she needs time and space to recover,” Biden said at the White House on Thursday.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow Airport in February 2022 for possessing cannabis oil and just last month sent to a penal colony.
The Biden administration proposed a prisoner exchange last July, aware Moscow had long sought Bout’s release.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the swap and said it had taken place at Abu Dhabi Airport in UAE.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” it said in a statement.
President Biden signed the order for Bout’s release, commuting his 25-year jail term.
Bout sold arms to warlords and rogue governments, becoming one of the world’s most wanted men.
Dubbed the “merchant of death” for gun-running in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian’s exploits inspired the 2005 Hollywood film ‘Lord of War’, which was loosely based on his life.
His secretive career was brought to an end by an elaborate US sting in 2008, when he was arrested at a hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok, to the anger of the Russian government.
He was extradited two years later and has spent the past 12 years languishing in an American prison for conspiring to support terrorists and kill Americans.
In his tweet, President Biden posted a picture from the Oval Office alongside Griner’s wife Cherelle.
“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” the President wrote.
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