National security adviser Jake Sullivan has refused to call Viktor Bout, the convicted international arms dealer, a terrorist, despite his conviction for conspiring to kill Americans.
“Does the (Biden) administration consider Viktor Bour a terrorist?” Sullivan was asked during a White House news conference discussing Bout’s release from a US prison last week in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia. .
“What we consider to be a convicted felon convicted of arms trafficking and other crimes,” Sullivan responded, noting that Bout is not listed as a terrorist by the State Department.
WHO IS VIKTOR BOUT, RUSSIA’S ‘DEATH MERCHANT’ RELEASED IN PRISONER EXCHANGE FOR BRITTNEY GRINER?
Former Soviet military officer and arms dealer Viktor Bout (C) disembarks after arriving at Westchester County Airport November 16, 2010, in White Plains, New York. He was released from a US prison last week in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was being held in Russia on drug charges.
(US Department of Justice via Getty Images)
Bout was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States when he was released during a prison exchange for Griner, who was serving a 10-year sentence in Russia on marijuana charges.
Nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” because of his supply of weapons around the world, including in major conflict zones such as Afghanistan and Rwanda, Bout had been convicted in 2011 of conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to deliver anti-aircraft missiles and help a terrorist organization.
The Biden administration has seen a quick backlash over the trade, which critics have dismissed as one-sided in favor of Russia, in part because it failed to secure the release of former US Marine Paul Whelan, jailed in Russia on espionage charges.
On Monday, Sullivan defended the trade.
“Before we make a determination about whether to send someone back as part of a deal to get an American home, we make a determination about the national security implications of that,” he said. “We made that assessment in this case.”
“We believe we can handle those challenges, but we will remain constantly vigilant for any threat that Viktor Bout may pose to the American people, to the United States in the future,” he added.
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Sullivan noted that “there is no shortage of arms dealers and mercenaries in Russia who pose challenges and threats to the international order.”
