Ukraine war: Russian GDP outperforms, prisoner swap, Ukraine medicines blocked
A Russian diplomat confirmed on Saturday that Moscow and Washington are discussing a possible prisoner exchange.
The trade is likely to involve a Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the US and a North American basketball player, recently detained in Russia.
The US has said it made a “substantial offer” to Russia to secure the release of basketball sensation Brittney Griner and a former soldier, Paul Whelan.
US media claims a famous Russian arms trafficker, Viktor Bout, nicknamed "the merchant of death", is up for trade with Moscow.
Russia officials have until now remained poker-faced about the possibility of a swap, calling the US's decision to engage in public diplomacy "problematic".
Bout was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US. His extraordinary life helped inspire the film "Lord of War" which depicts a cynical arms dealer.
"Discussions on the very sensitive subject of an exchange [of prisoners] are taking place through channels chosen by our presidents," said the director of the North America department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Dartchiev.
The diplomat confirmed that those named by the US press were "indeed [being] considered" in an interview published on Saturday.
"Silent diplomacy continues and should bear fruit if, of course, Washington (...) is careful not to fall into propaganda", he added.
Brittney Griner, considered one of the best basketball players in the world, was arrested in February in Moscow in possession of a vaporizer containing cannabis-based liquid.
She was recently sentenced to nine years in prison for cannabis trafficking.
Russia’s GDP contracted 4% in the second quarter of this year, the first full quarter since Russia invaded Ukraine, the
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