The Kremlin on Friday ruled out that the agreement with the United States for a prisoner swap marks a step in the normalization of bilateral relations, a day after the release from prison of US basketball player Brittney Griner in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as ‘the merchant of death’.
«The negotiations dealt exclusively with the issue of the exchange,» said Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who stressed that «it is wrong to draw hypothetical conclusions about whether it could be a step to overcome the bilateral crisis,» as reported by the Russian daily ‘Izvestia’.
Thus, he stressed that «bilateral relations are still bad» and highlighted that «the most important thing is that a Russian citizen who has been held captive by the Americans for fourteen years, in an absolutely illegal imprisonment, has returned to the homeland». «Thank God he is alive and well, but doctors have yet to determine his state of health. We wish him a speedy rehabilitation,» he concluded.
Bout himself thanked all those involved in his release after arriving on Russian territory. «Thank you very much to everyone who participated, who helped. I am incredibly happy,» he said, before recounting that his release came as a surprise, as he was not warned in advance.
Bout’s wife, Alla, said that the arms dealer is «exhausted» because «he hasn’t slept for three days,» as reported by the Russian news agency TASS. However, she stressed that the United States treated him «nobly and with respect»: «I hope that all his documents and drawings will soon be handed over to the Russian Embassy in Washington,» she said.
For his part, Griner arrived on U.S. soil a day after his release, applauded by his family, who thanked the authorities for their work. They have also expressed their wish that Paul Whelan, a former US Marine sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison for espionage, be released along with the rest of the Americans «unjustly detained».
Hours earlier, the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had affirmed that Washington is willing to maintain «contacts» with Russia in order to «advance national interests», while defending the above-mentioned exchange of prisoners. However, he acknowledged that he would have liked to obtain Whelan’s release as well: «We have been doing everything possible to get him out», he reiterated.
