NEW YORK, July 29. /TASS/. A health condition of Viktor Bout, a Russian national who has been doing time in a US correctional facility, has improved recently, his lawyer in the United States Steve Zissou told TASS.
"It actually has improved recently," Zissou said. "That withstanding the candor, substandard care that he has received."
"So some of his infections seem to be reducing. And so, you know, we're in a position where we're pleased that he's improving," the lawyer noted.
Bout’s wife Alla told Russia’s Rossiya-24 TV channel on Thursday that her husband received a medical assistance following repeated appeals on behalf of the Russian Embassy in the United States.
According to Alla Bout: "Thanks to the efforts of the Russian Embassy in Washington, which repeatedly appealed to both the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the US Department of Justice for medical assistance, that assistance has finally been partially provided, Viktor is feeling better."
Zissou also told TASS that his client’s defense is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about chances of a possible swap of Bout with jailed US nationals in Russia.
"I mean look, so I obviously I can't and don't speak for the Russian government," the lawyer said. "But they have consistently expressed their desire to have Viktor Bout returned home. And so, I think it's fair to say we are cautiously optimistic."
CNN reported on Wednesday citing its sources that US President Joe Biden had supported the plan to swap Viktor Bout for American nationals Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, and that the offer had been sent to Russia in June.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for his part, said on Wednesday that he intended to discuss the release of jailed US nationals in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, scheduled within a few days. The Russian Foreign Ministry said, however, that Moscow had received no requests from Washington for telephone contacts between Blinken and Lavrov.
Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Kremlin knows about the emerging "reports and certain statements" on the issue, but no deals on the swap have been reached yet.
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 earlier in the year on charges of attempting to smuggle drugs into the country. She flew to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport from New York, where upon arrival, two cartridges with cannabis oil were found in her luggage during baggage inspection. According to an expert review, the substance was cannabis oil, which qualifies as a narcotic substance.
US national Paul Whelan is convicted in Russia for spying. On December 28, 2018, Whelan, who holds US, UK, Canadian and Irish citizenship, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in a room of Moscow’s Metropol Hotel while on a spy mission. The FSB opened a criminal case against him on charges of espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. The Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in a high security colony.