(new: more details)
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. On Friday morning (local time) there was an “open and direct conversation” about an offer to release US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia, and American citizen Paul Whelan, Blinken said in Washington. “I urged the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we (…) made.” The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the phone call between the two chief diplomats.
Basketball player Griner faces trial in Russia for drug possession. Whelan, who has multiple nationalities, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 and sentenced to years in prison on charges of espionage. Blinken surprisingly announced on Wednesday that they had made an offer to Russia to release the two and in connection with this also announced talks with Lavrov. The two last saw each other before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began in February. Blinken said an offer had been on the table for weeks to secure the release of Griner and Whelan.
The US minister stressed that he had clearly said to Lavrov that the US would not accept Russian plans to annex more territory from Ukraine. “The world will not recognize annexations. We will impose further significant costs on Russia if it proceeds with its plans,” Blinken said. “And as always, we stand ready to work with Ukraine and others to support any meaningful diplomatic effort to end the war – to end aggression,” Blinken continued.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov complained during the call that Western heavy weapons supplied to Ukraine were killing children in the war zone. He also briefed Blinken on the course of the “special military operation” in Ukraine. The Russian chief diplomat stressed that all goals in the country would be achieved. The US is supporting Ukraine in defending against Russian heavy-weapons war of aggression. This would only prolong the conflict and increase the number of victims, Lavrov said.
Another topic discussed was the United Nations-brokered grain deal on exports of millions of tons of blocked grain from Ukraine. Blinken said he called on Lavrov to ensure that Russia honored its commitments. According to the ministry, Lavrov criticized the fact that the West’s “illegal” sanctions are preventing Russia from exporting its grain and fertilizers.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed the accusation that Blinken’s talks with Lavrov would in any way legitimize Russia’s behavior. “They are now an outsider on the global stage because of what they do,” she said. Plans for US President Joe Biden to meet with his Russian counterpart Wladimir Putin don’t give it It is now about doing everything to bring Griner and Whelan “home”.
The US government has not yet released any details about the offer made to Russia. In the US media, however, there was speculation about a prisoner exchange. According to this, an exchange with the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is imprisoned in the USA, should be part of the offer. For years Moscow has been demanding the extradition of the former Soviet officer who is said to have illegally equipped regimes and rebels in numerous countries with weapons. Bout was notorious as the “Dealer of Death”.
In April, the US and Russia surprisingly exchanged prisoners in the middle of the Ukraine war. At the airport in the Turkish capital Ankara, the Russian Konstantin Yaroshenko was exchanged for the American Trevor Reed. In view of the hardened fronts between Washington and Moscow, the development was particularly unexpected at the time.
The US government criticizes that Griner is being held unjustly. Moscow rejects the accusation that the trial against Griner was politically motivated. The US basketball player was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. When her luggage was checked in February, she is said to have had so-called vape cartridges and a small amount of hash oil with her. Griner has admitted her guilt, but defended herself in court: she used medical marijuana as a painkiller in consultation with her doctor and had no intention of “violating any law of the Russian Federation”./nau/DP/he