On December 8, President Joe Biden issued a statement that Russia has finally released Brittney Griner. “She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home. After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along,” President Biden announced, per CNN. Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, stood alongside him and shared that she was “overwhelmed with emotions.”
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A source told the publication that Griner was released in exchange for a convicted arms dealer named Victor Bout. Biden acknowledged that the swap took “painstaking and intense negotiations.” However, the swap did not include Paul Whelan, another American that the U.S. has categorized as wrongfully detained. “This was not a choice of which American to bring home. Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up,” the President declared. Although Whelan’s family is anxiously waiting for Paul to be freed, they shared their happiness for Griner’s release.
