After the start of the war in Ukraine, the first telephone conversation between the US Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister took place.
According to Anthony Blinken, the conversation was straightforward. “I called on the Kremlin to accept the offer regarding the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Greiner. Moreover, I emphasized that the world expects Russia to fulfil the agreement reached on grain exports with Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations,” said Blinken.
According to him, he told Sergey Lavrov that the world will never accept the annexation of Ukraine.
The information published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia reads that Sergey Lavrov emphasized during the telephone conversation that the goals of the “special operation” will be followed to the end, and the issue of grain export is “complicated by American sanctions”.
In the summer of 2020, Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage. As for the basketball player Britney Greiner, she was arrested at the airport in February of this year on charges of drug smuggling. Hashish oil was found in his luggage.
According to CNN, the United States offered Russia to exchange American citizens for Victor Butt, who was sentenced to 25 years on charges of arms distribution.
