“We continue to negotiate with Russian officials on an ongoing basis for the release of Brittney and Whelan, to try to return them home to their families, where they should be,” TASS reports him.
Kirby added that the US wants its citizens to return home "as quickly as possible" and intends to continue to do so.
Earlier, US Chargé d'Affaires in Russia Elizabeth Roode said that the United States continues to discuss through special channels with Russia the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan from prison.
On November 17, lawyers for American basketball player Brittney Griner confirmed that she was serving a sentence in a drug smuggling case in a women's colony in Mordovia.