The Biden administration is bringing WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for 10 months, home for the holidays after months of negotiation. She’s expected to be on U.S. soil within 24 hours.
“She is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home,” President Joe Biden announced Thursday after speaking with Griner by phone. “She will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.”
Biden was joined at the White House to make the announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner.
“Today I’m standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion that I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration,” Cherelle Griner said at the White House.
Brittney Griner was arrested Feb. 17 for possessing two vape cartridges containing hashish oil while traveling through an airport near Moscow. She was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges in August and transferred to a penal colony in November.Â
In exchange for Griner’s release, the U.S. agreed to release imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.” In 2011 Bout was convicted by a New York jury on four counts, including conspiring to kill American citizens, and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Cherelle Griner was present and able to speak with Brittney when Biden made the call from the Oval Office. The couple then had a private conversation in the president’s study, a senior administration official said.
The detainment of Griner, 32, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, has been a flashpoint in fraught relations between the U.S. and Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. She will fly to a medical facility in San Antonio to receive treatment, where Cherelle will meet her, a senior administration official told NBC News.
Notably absent from the swap was another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, who has been in Russian custody since 2018. Whelan, a corporate security director and former Marine, was given a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted of spying in 2020.
Biden said it was not his decision to leave Whelan out of the swap. U.S. officials spent months trying to negotiate a deal with Russia that included both Whelan and Griner.
“We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said. “Sadly for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s.”
In a statement, Whelan’s brother David Whelan stressed the family was thrilled to hear of Griner’s release.
“The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen,” David Whelan said.
Cherelle Griner said she and Brittney will continue to work to bring Whelan, and other Americans in custody abroad, home.
“BG’s not here to say this, but I will gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we celebrate BG being home,” Cherelle Griner said.
The swap took place in the United Arab Emirates, and Biden thanked the U.A.E. for its aid in his remarks Thursday morning, as did Blinken in a statement.
Biden has already successfully negotiated a prisoner swap with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. In April the countries agreed to swap Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine imprisoned in Russia, for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was convicted on cocaine trafficking charges.
David Whelan said in a statement on behalf of the family that they were grateful to be notified Paul would not be included in the swap ahead of time, unlike when Reed was released in April.
“As I have often remarked, Brittney’s and Paul’s cases were never really intertwined,” Whelan said. “It has always been a strong possibility that one might be freed without the other. The sentiments I shared in April about Trevor are unchanged: this is the event we wish for so much for our own family. She will be reunited with her family. Brittney is free. And Paul is still a hostage.”
Correction: The headline on this article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Brittney Griner’s name.