There have so far been no tangible results in negotiations on swapping prisoners with the US, the Kremlin and Russian Foreign Ministry have said.
The comments were made in response to a claim by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said on Wednesday that Washington had made a “substantial offer” to Moscow several weeks ago to secure the release of basketball star Brittney Griner, who is now on trial for drug charges in Russia, and Paul Whelan, who is jailed for espionage.
According to CNN’s sources, the Biden administration suggested swapping the two Americans for Russian businessman Viktor Bout, who had been sentenced to 25 years in the US on accusations of smuggling weapons that had later been used against American troops.
“What we know is that so far there have been no agreements in this area,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.