Criticism of the prisoner exchange: Griner against But – a bad deal?

Russia and the US have exchanged prisoners – a professional basketball player for one of the most famous arms dealers in the world. US Republicans believe the swap is unbalanced.

Basketball star Brittney Griner was still on his way to the United States when Joe Biden’s government had to switch from party mood to defensive mode. The release of the convicted arms dealer Viktor But is a gift to President Waldimir Putin, criticized Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican parliamentary group in the House of Representatives.

“I am pleased that an American woman is coming home. She has been arrested on a trumped-up charge,” McCarthy said in a television interview. “But replacing the dealer of death because of that? That made us weaker. It made Putin stronger, and it made Americans more vulnerable.”

Griner free, Whelan stays

And former Secretary of Defense Marc Esper followed up on CNN this morning. But against Griner, that’s an unbalanced business, this victory feels hollow. And, the Republican asked, “When and how are we going to bring Paul Whelan home? He’s been incarcerated for nearly four years.”

Paul Whelan is a former soldier who was arrested for espionage in 2018. The US government also considers him unlawfully convicted. But it was not possible to get him released during these negotiations, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Thursday. They didn’t have a choice as to which American they could bring home, Blinken said: “It was about one or none.” The Russian government is treating Whelan differently than Griner because of the espionage charges.

Whelan himself was very disappointed, as he said in a telephone conversation with CNN. He doesn’t understand why he’s still sitting here, his bags are packed, he just needs a plane to take him home. He was given the impression that something was going to happen pretty soon. The US government says it spoke to Whelan before announcing Griner’s release.

USA wants to keep an eye on But

And as for convicted gunrunner and self-declared enemy of America, Viktor Bout: No one in the US government is overjoyed that Bout is walking free again, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told CNN. But But would have been released in six years anyway, he had not been sentenced to life imprisonment. The US government wants to keep a close eye on what he does in the near future.

Yesterday, President Biden promised the Whelan family and everyone else in prison that he would never give up. In addition to Whelan, there are apparently two other Americans in Russian prisons.