CNN
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US embassy officials in Moscow met detained Americans Britney Griner White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
Jean-Pierre told reporters on board Air Force One: “She is reportedly doing well, as you can expect in this situation.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said: Tweet On Thursday, an embassy official “saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite the current situation.”
Embassy officials were able to speak to Griner by phone on October 18 and another detained American, Paul Whelan, on October 31. Whelan, who is held in a prison camp hours outside Moscow, has not seen him in person since June 16, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Jean-Pierre reiterated Thursday that “the US government has made an important offer to the Russian people to resolve the current unacceptable, unjust and unlawful detention of Griner and Whelan.”
“Also, despite the lack of good faith negotiations by Russia, in the weeks that followed, the U.S. government continued to follow up on that offer, proposing alternative potential ways of moving forward with Russia through all available channels. “I can say that we kept doing it,” she said. “This continues to be our number one priority.”
Whelan was detained in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 on espionage charges. Griner said he was detained in February, and in August he was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug smuggling charges. October 25th.
On that appeal, Griner again apologized for the mistake of bringing small amounts of cannabis to Russia, where she played basketball in the offseason, and said her sentence was “disproportionate.”
“It was very stressful and very traumatic for me mentally and psychically. [state] And to my family with whom I have not been able to communicate,” Griner said.
The U.S. government condemned the dismissal of her appeal, and a State Department spokesperson called it “another denial of justice that only exacerbates the inherent injustice of her detention.”
