Brittney Griner Negotiator Says Putin Overruled Double Swap at Last Minute
Story by Giulia Carbonaro • 5h ago
Brittney Griner negotiator Bill Richardson has expressed his sadness that Paul Whelan didn't come home together with the basketball star, adding that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin overruled his advisers at the end of negotiations, dismissing a "two-for-two" exchange of prisoners.
"I was sad that Paul Whelan was not part of it. I've been for four years trying to find formulas to get Paul back, but it always seems that, at the very end, there's a roadblock," Richardson, a former New Mexico governor and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, told CBC on Friday.
"I thought there would a be a 'two-for-two' exchange, Paul Whelan and Brittney for [Viktor] Bout, the Russian arms dealer, and somebody else, but at the last minute, I think President Putin decided, 'No, it's going to be 'one for one' or nothing.'"
Richardson, who admitted being "at the edge of negotiations," said President Biden made the right decision getting Griner back to the U.S., but added that efforts are continuing to get Whelan and other Americans imprisoned in Russia and other parts of the world back home.
Richardson told CBC that he traveled to Russia to negotiate the prisoner exchange with Russian officials he had met during his official government roles, but said that "eventually in Russia every decision is made by Putin."
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/brittney-griner-negotiator-says-putin-overruled-double-swap-at-last-minute/ar-AA157B5M
