Russia confirmed Thursday, July 28 to negotiate a new prisoner exchange with the United States but clarified that there was no agreement yet, shortly after Washington announced that it had made a "substantial" offer to Moscow.

These talks are one of the few areas where the Russian-American dialogue has not broken down despite the serious tensions linked to the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

In April, a first exchange had been able to take place.

The negotiations "are being conducted by the competent authorities. A concrete result has not yet been achieved," said Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova in a statement.

"Since there is no finalized agreement, we have nothing to add" on the subject, said for his part the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, during his daily briefing with the hurry. 

According to Maria Zakharova, Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin "in their time" ordered the holding of talks with a view to an exchange of prisoners, while the subject has come up regularly since their summit in June 2021 in Geneva.

The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken announced to him on Wednesday that he would speak "in the coming days" with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, to discuss a "substantial" American offer to obtain the release of two Americans detained in Russia.

Russian diplomacy has meanwhile said nothing about such a call, which would be the first since the launch of the Russian assault against Ukraine on February 24. 

According to several American media, it would be a question of exchanging the Russian arms trafficker detained in the United States, Viktor Bout, for Brittney Griner, a basketball star currently on trial after being arrested in February in possession of cannabis when arriving in Moscow, and Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia for espionage.

Discreet negotiations

Viktor Bout, arrested in Thailand in 2008 and serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, is nicknamed the "merchant of death".

His extraordinary career was the inspiration for the film "Lord of War" in which Nicolas Cage plays a most cynical arms dealer.

The relatives of Viktor Bout and Brittney Griner have indicated for their part that they are not informed of the status of the discussions. 

Brittney Griner's lawyers said overnight they were also not told of talks.

"Lawyers do not participate in negotiations. From a legal point of view, the exchange can only take place after the statement of the verdict (in the Griner case). In any case, we will be happy if Brittney can go home soon," lawyer Maria Blagovolina said on Telegram.

The trial is currently ongoing, with the next hearing scheduled for August 2.

Brittney Griner testified in court on Wednesday, saying she mistakenly took medicinal cannabis with her on her way to Russia to join the Russian team she plays for. 

The 31-year-old woman faces 10 years in prison. 

Several Russian-American exchanges of prisoners have taken place in the past. 

In April, former US Marine Trevor Reed, sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for violence he denied, was exchanged for a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, imprisoned in the United States since 2010 for drug trafficking in connection with the Colombian FARC.

With AFP

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