Russia confirms prisoner swap talks with US

The exchange of prisoners would concern the basketball player Brittney Griner sentenced in Russia to 9 years in prison for cannabis trafficking.

(illustrative image) © Evgenia Novozhenina / AP

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The information has been circulating for a few weeks, but it was confirmed this Saturday, August 13 by a Russian diplomat.

The United States and Russia are indeed in the process of negotiating for a prisoner exchange, as in the days of the Cold War.

An exchange that would involve American basketball player Brittney Griner and a former American soldier, Paul Whelan, against Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer, sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison by American justice.

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If Washington made no secret of it, Moscow has so far refused to talk about it publicly, as the Russian Foreign Minister explained a few weeks ago.

Sergei Lavrov had even publicly criticized his American counterpart, after Antony Blinken spoke of a substantial offer to secure the release

.

But this Saturday, a Russian diplomat confirmed that discussions were underway.

If he did not reveal the name or names of the people who could be used as bargaining chips,

continues to circulate and is among those mentioned behind the scenes, according to this diplomat.

►

It must be said that the Kremlin has always demanded the return of the man who is often nicknamed "

".

A famous character whose role was embodied in the cinema in 2005 by the American actor Nicolas Cage in the film

long before he was arrested in 2008 in Thailand.

Negotiations between the two countries have accelerated since the basketball player was sentenced on August 4

cannabis trafficking.

Necessarily complicated negotiations as the conflict in Ukraine continues.

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