Russia is “ready” to discuss a prisoner swap with Washington at the presidential level, its foreign minister said yesterday, a day after the drug conviction of US basketball star Brittney Griner.
“We are ready to discuss this subject, but only within the framework of the [communication] channel established by” Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on a visit to Cambodia.
“There is a special channel established by the presidents and despite certain public declarations, it is still functional,” he said.
Photo: AFP
“If the Americans again decide to engage in public diplomacy and make thundering declarations ... that’s their business and their problem,” he said, adding that Washington is not able work “in a professional and calm manner.”
However, the discussions would not be held publicly, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“If we discuss prisoner exchanges via the press then they will never take place,” he said.
The statements came a day after a Russian court sentenced Griner to nine years in a penal colony on a drug smuggling charge.
The 31-year-old Griner, a two-time US Olympic champion, listened with a blank expression as an interpreter translated the verdict by Judge Anna Sotnikova, but her lawyers said later she was “very upset.”
US President Joe Biden denounced the verdict and sentence as “unacceptable.”
“I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends and teammates,” Biden said, adding that he would continue to work to bring home Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction.
Griner, recognized as one of the greatest female players in basketball history, has been detained since Feb. 17 after police said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage upon arrival in Moscow.
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years that Griner had faced under the charges.
Most Russians possessing small quantities of drugs get at most five years in prison, lawyers said.
Defense attorney Maria Blagovolina told reporters Griner was “very upset, very stressed. She can hardly talk. It’s a difficult time for her.”
On Wednesday last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home Griner and Whelan in a sharp reversal of previous policy.
Details of the proposal were not announced, although a person familiar with the matter said the US has offered to trade convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner.
Russian media have also speculated that Griner could be swapped for Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence for conspiracy to kill Americans and providing aid to a terrorist organization.
SHOW OF SUPPORT: As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan might collaborate with Manila against China’s aggressive actions, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday hinted that Taiwan might join forces with the Philippines to protect navigational freedoms, days after Beijing blocked Philippine supply ships in the South China Sea. The ministry made the comment when asked whether Taipei would be willing to join forces with the Philippines to protect the latter from increasingly aggressive activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard. Taiwan “is willing to cooperate with any other nation with shared values in areas of common concern, including maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacfic region,” it wrote in a statement. A Chinese
‘LIKE A BLACK HOLE’: The figure is about 7% of China’s reported military spending, although diplomats and experts say that number is often opaque or not fully inclusive China spent about US$15 billion, or 7 percent of its defense budget, on exercises in the western Pacific last year, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing’s investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbors. The internal research by the military, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China’s defense spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region. China claims Taiwan as its own and is also locked in disputes with several nations over sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. “This
‘GLOBAL THREAT’: MOFA said that it welcomes the ‘staunch US support’ and that ‘China again made spurious claims about Taiwan that do not accord with reality’ US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait, while a senior Chinese military official warned the US to stop “collusion” with Taiwan in a rare one-on-one meeting yesterday, both sides said. Sullivan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, the first US national security adviser to visit China since 2016, for three days of talks with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and other high-ranking officials. Yesterday morning, Sullivan met with Zhang Youxia (張又俠), vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s second-highest-ranking military official, at the Beijing headquarters of the commission.
PRESSURE: The Solomon Islands, acting under explicit instructions from Beijing, is aiming to prevent Taiwan from attending the next forum to be held in Honiara Australia has voiced support for Taiwan despite the Solomon Islands’ plan to undermine Taiwan’s status as an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). The forum is one of the most important international organizations in the Pacific region, made up of 18 member states, including Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan’s Pacific allies, associate members and observers, along with “dialogue partners” such as the US, Japan, Canada and the EU. The 53rd edition of the forum opened in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, yesterday. Taiwan has been taking part in the forum and related events as a “developmental partner” under the name Taiwan / Republic of