Viktor Bout’s lawyer, Alexey Tarasov, revealed that negotiations for the exchange of the Russian businessman for U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner were conducted through private communications between high-ranking officials of Russia and the United States.
Tarasov explained, “All negotiations regarding the exchange were confidential. They involved only members of the U.S. administration and representatives of the Russian government. Thus, the agreement was reached at the governmental level.”
He also highlighted that the initial exchange proposal included not only Griner but also Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage.
It was later confirmed that the United States and Russia proceeded with the exchange of Griner for Bout.
Brittney Griner was detained on March 5 while passing through customs control, where a service dog detected hashish oil in her belongings, a substance prohibited in Russia.
Viktor Bout was arrested on March 6, 2008, in Thailand and was later extradited to the United States. An American court found the Russian national guilty of conspiring to sell weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the U.S. authorities classify as a terrorist organization.
Source: Mustafa Samer, Gazeta.Ru, December 8, 2022
Negotiations on the Bout Exchange Were Conducted via Closed Channels Between Senior Officials of Russia and the U.S.
