(Washington) Joe Biden on Friday called Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of Paul Whelan, an American sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia for espionage and who claims his innocence, the White House said.
Posted at 6:42 p.m.
The American president reiterated to him “that he was committed to bringing Paul home as quickly as possible”, and that the American government was “continuing its efforts to obtain the release of Paul as well as Brittney Griner and all Americans”. hostages or wrongfully incarcerated around the world,” a US executive said.
Basketball champion Brittney Griner pleaded guilty Thursday to smuggling drugs.
The trial of the athlete, imprisoned in Russia since February after being arrested in possession of a cannabis-based vaporizer liquid, is being closely followed by Joe Biden, who has made his release a “priority”.
PHOTO EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Brittney Griner
And this at a time of extreme tension between the United States and Russia, since the invasion of Ukraine.
The case of Brittney Griner has rekindled media attention around Paul Whelan, a former security manager for an auto parts company, who has been detained since 2018.
Speculation is rife around a possible exchange of prisoners to obtain the release of these two American citizens.
Washington and Moscow had resumed in April with this evocative practice of the Cold War: the former American Marine Trevor Reed had then been exchanged for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted of drug trafficking and imprisoned in the United States.