MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. Russian entrepreneur Viktor Bout who was sentenced in the US for arms sales may be traded for American basketball player Brittney Griner who is accused in Russia of drug trafficking, a source in the Public Monitoring Commission confirmed to TASS on Friday.

"Currently, talks are underway on exchanging Bout for Griner," the source said.

Earlier, a source of the Gazeta.Ru news outlet reported that a process preparing for such an exchange had started.

At the end of last month, Russia and the US swapped pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko convicted in the US for drug-related crimes for American student Trevor Reed who was sentenced in Russia for an attack on police officers.

Viktor Bout was apprehended in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 following a sting by US federal agents. He was charged with conspiracy to deliver weapons to a group regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States. In 2010, Bout was extradited to the United States.

US basketball player Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia over suspicions of drug smuggling. She is a two-time World Champion and a two-time Olympic Champion. Before the arrest, she played for Yekaterinburg’s UGMK.