The Biden Administration is proposing to trade infamous arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner and former marine Paul N. Whelan. Griner has been imprisoned in Russia under drug charges while Whelan was charged with espionage. Russian officials have long sought the release of Bout, who has been dubbed the “Merchant of Death”.
The decision is undoubtedly a difficult one, as Bout is an arms trafficker who has sold numerous weapons to terrorists and rebels around the world.
The choice has not yet been confirmed, but Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made the trade public to reassure the families of Brittney Griner and Paul N. Whelan.
“The offer that the U.S. government has made and, extraordinarily, made public, is super,” said Paul’s twin brother David Whelan on Thursday. “Hopefully, the Russian government will take the concessions that have been made and allow Paul to come home.”
The exchange is a complicated one as it doesn’t involve exchanging soldiers or spies, it instead has to do with an extremely dangerous arms dealer and 2 civilians. Many believe that the trade is more than fair; they would do anything to get Americans home.
“The fact that Bout is a big fish isn’t really part of the calculus,” said Jeremy Bash, the chief of staff of the C.I.A in 2010. “We value our own citizens a thousand times more than we value the foreign criminal. Israel takes the same approach. They’d trade a thousand Hamas fighters for one I.D.F. soldier. We in the U.S. take the same attitude. We will do almost anything to save an American life.”
Despite the U.S offering Bout, Russia is still deciding on whether to take the deal or not. Russian officials confirmed that they would discuss the situation on Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov would be the one communicating with Blinken but as of now, he has not given any indication of progress on the matter.
Jared Genser, a human rights lawyer who represents Americans imprisoned by foreign countries, advocated for drastic reforms on hostage taking. The reforms would allow joint response meaning if a citizen of a country were wrongfully detained, multiple nations could take common action against them. A proposal has already been sent to Blinken and Presidential Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/griner-bout-hostages-diplomacy.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/griner-bout-hostages-diplomacy.html
Other sources: https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-brittney-griners-detention-russia-us-vows-secure/story?id=87925739
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/05/russia-us-prisoner-swap-griner-whelan
https://people.com/sports/paul-whelans-family-given-little-bit-of-hope-by-offer-of-brittney-griner-prisoner-swap/
The decision is undoubtedly a difficult one, as Bout is an arms trafficker who has sold numerous weapons to terrorists and rebels around the world.
The choice has not yet been confirmed, but Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made the trade public to reassure the families of Brittney Griner and Paul N. Whelan.
“The offer that the U.S. government has made and, extraordinarily, made public, is super,” said Paul’s twin brother David Whelan on Thursday. “Hopefully, the Russian government will take the concessions that have been made and allow Paul to come home.”
The exchange is a complicated one as it doesn’t involve exchanging soldiers or spies, it instead has to do with an extremely dangerous arms dealer and 2 civilians. Many believe that the trade is more than fair; they would do anything to get Americans home.
“The fact that Bout is a big fish isn’t really part of the calculus,” said Jeremy Bash, the chief of staff of the C.I.A in 2010. “We value our own citizens a thousand times more than we value the foreign criminal. Israel takes the same approach. They’d trade a thousand Hamas fighters for one I.D.F. soldier. We in the U.S. take the same attitude. We will do almost anything to save an American life.”
Despite the U.S offering Bout, Russia is still deciding on whether to take the deal or not. Russian officials confirmed that they would discuss the situation on Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov would be the one communicating with Blinken but as of now, he has not given any indication of progress on the matter.
Jared Genser, a human rights lawyer who represents Americans imprisoned by foreign countries, advocated for drastic reforms on hostage taking. The reforms would allow joint response meaning if a citizen of a country were wrongfully detained, multiple nations could take common action against them. A proposal has already been sent to Blinken and Presidential Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/griner-bout-hostages-diplomacy.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/griner-bout-hostages-diplomacy.html
Other sources: https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-brittney-griners-detention-russia-us-vows-secure/story?id=87925739
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/05/russia-us-prisoner-swap-griner-whelan
https://people.com/sports/paul-whelans-family-given-little-bit-of-hope-by-offer-of-brittney-griner-prisoner-swap/
