Russia released WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic

high-level prisoner swap,

in which the United States in turn released notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to officials from both countries.

The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieves a major goal for President Joe Biden, but at a high price and leaving behind another American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.

The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, secured the release of the most prominent US citizen detained abroad.

Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and his jailing on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to prisoners abroad.

Biden's authorization to release a Russian criminal dubbed "the merchant of death" underscores the mounting pressure his administration faced to bring Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of his criminal case and his subsequent transfer to a colony. penal.

The swap was confirmed by US officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Biden spoke to Griner by phone Thursday while his wife, Cherelle, was in the Oval Office.

"A few moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home," Biden tweeted.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the exchange in a statement issued by Russian news agencies, which claims that the exchange took place in Abu-Dhabi and that Bout was transferred home.

Russian and US officials had expressed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of tense negotiations, with Biden saying in November that he was hopeful Russia would reach a deal after the US midterm election.

A senior Russian official said last week that a deal was possible before the end of the year.

Still, the fact that the deal was a one-for-one trade came as a surprise given that US officials had for months expressed their determination to bring home both Griner and

Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018

on espionage charges that his family and the US government say are baseless.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Russia

  • USA

  • Ukraine

  • Joe Biden

  • drug trafficking