Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Cambodia that the Kremlin was “ready to discuss this topic, but within the framework of the chain that was agreed by the presidents”, the agency reported. official press RIA Novosti.
“There is a specified channel which has been agreed upon by [Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden]and no matter what anyone says publicly, this string will remain in effect,” Lavrov reportedly said Friday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
Shortly after, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the same summit that the United States would “continue” talks with Russia.
“We have presented, as you know, a substantial proposal that Russia should engage with us. And what Foreign Minister Lavrov said this morning and said publicly is that they are ready to engage through the channels we have established to do just that. And we will pursue that,” Blinken told reporters at a press briefing.
Comments from both sides suggest that a negotiation process, which has already proven complex, could accelerate in the coming days.
Griner, a star of the Women’s National Basketball Association, pleaded guilty to carrying cannabis oil in her luggage as she walked through a Moscow airport on February 17. She testified in court that she was aware of Russia’s strict drug laws and had no intention of bringing cannabis into the country, saying she was in a hurry and she “prepared for stress”.
Ahead of Thursday’s verdict, Griner apologized to the court and asked for clemency in an emotional speech. “I never wanted to hurt anyone, I never wanted to endanger the Russian people, I never wanted to break the laws here,” she said.
“I made an honest mistake and I hope in your decision it doesn’t end my life here. I know everyone keeps talking about political pawn and politics but I hope it’s away from this courtroom,” she continued.
Griner’s attorneys had hoped his guilty plea and statements of remorse would result in a more lenient sentence.
His sentencing, Blinken told reporters, “highlights [Washington’s] very significant concern about the Russian legal system and the Russian government’s use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda by using individuals as political pawns. »
“So is Paul Whelan,” Blinken added.
Earlier on Friday, a US State Department official told reporters there had been no “serious response” from Russia to a proposed swap. The same official said that Blinken and Lavrov did not meet at the summit in Cambodia and that Blinken had no intention of doing so.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia would not publicly discuss the prospect of a transfer. “If we discuss through the press certain nuances related to the exchanges, then these exchanges will never take place. The Americans have already made this mistake,” he said on Friday.
Peskov, who was asked if Putin could pardon Griner, said that “there is a certain [legal] procedure to which the convicted person may resort, in accordance with the law. According to Russian law, to initiate clemency proceedings, a convict must write a petition to the Russian president.
Before the start of Thursday’s WNBA game between Griner’s Phoenix Mercury and the Connecticut Sun, members of both teams linked arms around center court, and a 42-second moment of silence was observed for Brittney Griner.
Towards the end of those 42 seconds, members of the crowd began chanting, “Take her home! Bring her home!
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Martin Goillandeau, Anna Chernova and Daniel Allman contributed to this report.