The Kremlin on Thursday said no firm agreement has been reached on a prisoner swap that could secure the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from Russian detention.
Moscow was responding to a “substantial” proposal from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that would likely spring a high-level convict — possibly arms trafficker Viktor Bout — from a U.S. prison in exchange for the Americans.
“Look, since there are no agreements now that would be finalized, then, accordingly, I have nothing more to add to what has been said,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters from multiple outlets on his daily conference call.