Biden hopes Putin will negotiate release of Brittney Griner

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he hopes Russian President Vladimir Putin will negotiate the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, now that midterm elections are over. Griner has been detained in Russia since her February arrest for drug possession (she had canisters of cannabis oil in her luggage when she entered Russia). A Russian court convicted her in August. Russian authorities moved her to a penal colony last week after a Russian appeals court rejected her appeal of her nine-year sentence. Also held in Russia is American Paul Whelan, who was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are fake.

What does the fact that midterm elections are over have to do with this? A Putin aide in October said that negotiating the release of Brittney Griner was not a major point of focus for the United States, and that Biden had only promised negotiations as a ploy to help his party win in midterm elections. U.S. officials have for months made little to no substantial progress in negotiating the release of Griner and Whelan.

Dig deeper: Read Evgeny Kosykh’s report on how people in Russia are speaking out against the war in Ukraine—despite government crackdowns.