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Biden approves offers to Russia on Whelan, Griner, ready for tough decisions — Blinken

Secretary of State declined to confirm whether the US was offering to swap Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner for Russian businessman Viktor Bout jailed in the US

WASHINGTON, July 27./TASS/. US President Joe Biden has approved Washington’s offers to Moscow as to the release of American nationals jailed in Russia, and "is prepared to make tough decisions," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

President Biden "was not only directly involved, he signs off on any proposal that we make. Certainly when it comes to Americans who are being arbitrarily detained abroad, including in this specific case," Blinken said when asked about the president’s role in putting that offer to Russia.

He declined to confirm whether the US was offering to swap Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner for Russian businessman Viktor Bout jailed in the US. The secretary of state said, however, that the US had demonstrated with Trevor Reed "that the president is prepared to make tough decisions. If it means the safe return of Americans".

Russia’s Foreign Ministry reported the exchange of Yarosheko and US national Trevor Reed on April 27. Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 for allegedly plotting to transport a large amount of cocaine. He was then illegally whisked away to the US and sentenced in September 2011 to 20 years behind bars. Yaroshenko has denied the charges, saying he was framed, and denounced his case as a setup. Trevor Reed, an American, was handed a nine-year jail term in Russia in 2020 for physically assaulting police officers.

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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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