Biden: US will “take any path possible” to bring Griner home

President Joe Biden has urged Moscow to release Brittney Griner, saying the United States will continue to secure the freedom of the WNBA star, who was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian judge last week.

“This is unacceptable and I call on Russia to release her immediately to be with her wife, loved ones, friends and teammates,” Biden said in a statement Thursday.

Griner was found guilty earlier that day on drug charges stemming from her arrest at a Moscow airport in February. The prosecutor in the case petitioned the court to sentence Griner to nine and a half years; the judge gave her nine.

“Today, American citizen Brittney Griner was sentenced to prison in another reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongly holding Brittney,” Biden said in his statement after the guilty verdict.

Griner was arrested on February 17 when she was traveling back to compete for the Russian women’s basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg, for which she has played in the WNBA off-season since 2014. Airport officials found cannabis oil in Griner’s luggage, leading to the drug allegations.

Their detention has sparked a diplomatic standoff between the US and Russia, with both sides negotiating a possible prisoner swap in recent days. Late last month, the Biden administration proposed the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, a US citizen jailed in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges, in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is currently serving a 25-year sentence The United States.

Russia is said to have rejected this offer.

In his statement last week, Biden pledged to secure the release of Griner and Whelan.

“My administration will continue to work diligently and will do everything possible to get Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible,” the president said.

Hours before her sentencing Thursday, Griner, a star of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, appeared in court and apologized for the February incident. She previously pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had no intention of breaking the law.

“I want to apologize to my teammates, my club, my fans and the city (Ekaterinburg) for the mistake I made and the embarrassment I caused them,” Griner said, as quoted by the Associated Press. “I also want to apologize to my parents, my siblings, the Phoenix Mercury organization back home, the amazing women of the WNBA and my amazing spouse back home.”

Griner also spoke about her experience as a professional player in Russia.

“I had no idea that the team, the cities, the fans and my teammates would make such a big impression on me over the 6 1/2 years I’ve been here,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “I vividly remember coming out of the gym and all the little girls waiting for me there in the stands and it kept me coming back here.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week condemned Griner’s conviction.

“It highlights our very significant turn with the Russian legal system and the Russian government using wrongful arrests to advance its own agenda by using individuals as political pawns,” Blinken said on Friday, as quoted by ESPN.

Blinken’s counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, alluded to talks on a prisoner swap with the US and said Russia is ready to negotiate.

“We are ready to discuss this issue, but within the framework of the channel agreed upon by Presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov said, as quoted by ESPN. “If Americans decide to resort to public diplomacy again … that’s their business, and I would even say it’s their problem.”