Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that more prisoner swaps with the United States could be possible if the right compromise is struck.
Putin told reporters that “the commitments [had] Found” who cleared that path Thursday to trade WNBA player Brittney Griner for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“We do not refuse to continue this work in the future,” Putin added in his first high-profile comments on the trade this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for his news conference after the Eurasian Economic Union Intergovernmental Council Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday.
(Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)
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The Biden administration faced swift pushback from Republican lawmakers who argued that trade was unbalanced and left behind another American sitting in a Russian prison: former Marine Paul Whelan.
Griner’s profile of celebrity status as an athlete also led many to question whether this played a role in the administration’s determination to bring home Griner, who was arrested in February on marijuana charges.
President Biden responded to this suggestion on Thursday, telling reporters, “This was not a choice of which American to bring home.”
“We brought home Trevor Reed when we had the chance earlier this year. Unfortunately, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s,” he added, vowing to continue working to bring Whelan home. also.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed the president’s position, saying, “Unfortunately, the choice was to bring Britteny home or bring no one home.”
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She also added that Griner “is more than an athlete, more than an Olympian. She is an important role model and inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color.”
Putin said the Bout-Griner negotiations did not address other geopolitical concerns.
“Whether this could set the stage for a dialogue with the United States is a separate issue,” he said. “We didn’t set the task of moving from those conversations to something else, but they create a certain atmosphere.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed the sentiment, saying: “It has no impact on the general state of bilateral relations.”
However, Rebekah Koffler, a Russia expert and former DIA intelligence officer for Russian Doctrine & Strategy, warned that the trade was likely to have greater geopolitical repercussions.
“Putin wants to capitalize on what he, his regime and the Russian people [see] like a big ‘victory,'” he said, explaining that Bout, a former GRU intelligence officer, has ties to Putin during his days as a former KGB agent.
“Bout is no ordinary rogue actor. He is linked to Putin himself through Igor Sechin, a former KGB agent, current CEO of Rosneft and one of the most influential people in Putin’s circle,” Koffler detailed. “Bout is now likely to play an important role in the Russia-Ukraine war.”
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Koffler said the Kremlin could draw on Bout’s previous experience as an international arms dealer to help Russia with its dwindling supplies in the war against Ukraine.
“He’s a huge fish, a high-value asset for Putin, compared to Griner,” he added, telling Fox News Digital that Putin also “wants to show the US he gets a deal on his terms.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
