Ex-Russian envoy to US says Biden wants Brittney Griner freed for midterm boost
By Snejana Farberov
October 18, 2022 10:22am
A former Russian ambassador to Washington has claimed that President Biden is desperate to secure Brittney Griner’s release to get a boost in next month’s midterm elections — but the WNBA star’s plight is not a priority for the Kremlin.
“In this tense situation, the way I see it, [Biden] thinks first and foremost about the upcoming midterm elections, which is why he keeps bringing up the need to return the basketball player who was arrested for delivering drugs,” said Yuri Ushakov during an interview that aired Sunday on the state-run Rossiya-1 channel, according to TASS.
“But this is not the most important issue that concerns us,” he added.
Ushakov served as Russia’s ambassador to the US from 1998 until 2008. Since 2012, he has been an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin on foreign policy issues.
Ushakov’s comments about Griner came ahead of her Oct. 25 appeal hearing, during which the two-time Olympic champion will attempt to have her nine-year sentence for drug possession thrown out.
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https://nypost.com/2022/10/18/putins-aide-says-biden-wants-griner-freed-before-midterms/