Russia is ready to discuss prisoner exchange with the United States

Lavrov confirmed that the discussion of the issue of prisoners takes place within the framework of the channel that was agreed upon between Putin and Biden.

Reuters

Russia said yesterday it was ready to discuss a prisoner exchange with the United States in a private discussion, a day after a Russian court sentenced American basketball star Britney Greiner to nine years in prison for drug possession.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden had previously agreed that a diplomatic channel should be used to discuss possible prisoner exchanges.

"We are ready to discuss this issue, but within the framework of the channel that was agreed upon between Presidents Putin and Biden," Lavrov added during a visit to Cambodia.

"If the Americans decide to resort again to popular diplomacy, this is their business, and I say their problem," he added.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington was ready to engage with Moscow through existing diplomatic channels.

He added that Greiner's conviction highlighted Russia's unjust detention of her and exacerbated the injustice inflicted on her.

The Kremlin was silent about the possibility of a prisoner exchange, and said that if the exchanges were discussed in the media, they would never take place.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The Americans have already made this mistake when they suddenly decided to use pulpit diplomacy to settle these issues... This is not the way to settle them."

Peskov declined to comment on Greiner's ruling.

The United States has already made an offer that Blinken described as "generous" to secure the release of Americans held in Russia, including Greiner and ex-Marine Paul Whelan.

After the sentencing of Greiner, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the United States had made a "serious proposal" to Russia.

"We urge them to accept it," he said. "They should have accepted it when we first brought it up."

Kirby did not provide further details about the US proposal.

Sources told Reuters that Washington had offered to extradite Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Greiner and Whelan.

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