Even though the US offered up the names of several other Russian prisoners in US custody that they would be willing to trade, Russia refused to release Paul Whelan along with Brittney Griner unless a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy organisation who is currently in German custody was also released.
Due to the fact that the ex-colonel, Vadim Krasikov, is currently incarcerated in Germany receiving a life sentence for murder, the US was unable to comply with the request.
AWN initially revealed exclusively in August that the Russians had asked for the release of Whelan and Griner in return for Krasikov and Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US.
According to a senior German government source who spoke to AWN earlier this year, US authorities quietly asked the Germans if they may be open to trading Krasikov. However, in the end, the US was unable to get Krasikov’s release. The German source claimed that Krasikov, who murdered a Georgian national in broad daylight in Berlin in 2019, was not seriously considered by the German government as part of any potential transaction.
According to insiders, the US made the Russians a number of other incentives in an effort to persuade them to accept Whelan’s inclusion in the trade. Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national extradited to the US in August on charges of money laundering, hacking, and extortion, was one of the individuals mentioned by the US. Roman Seleznev, a Russian cybercriminal presently serving a 14-year term in the US, was also the subject of a trade offer from the US, according to sources.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Seleznev’s legal counsel. Vinnik was represented by Frédéric Bélot in France prior to his extradition to the US, and on Friday, Bélot informed AWN that he was not aware of any ongoing conversations between Moscow and Washington over the inclusion of Vinnik in a potential prisoner swap.
Bélot, however, asserted that Vinnik might eventually take part in negotiations over prisoner swaps.
Bélot texted AWN, “They [Vinnik and Whelan] make part of the prospective ‘candidates’ for the next exchange.”
Bélot has pleaded with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, to assist in securing Vinnik’s release from US custody ever since Vinnik was extradited to the US in August.
But in the end, the Russians made it clear that they would only be willing to exchange Whelan, who was found guilty of espionage in 2019, for one of their own spies, Krasikov.
The National Security Council refused to respond to questions. On Thursday night, a senior Biden administration source admitted to AWN that despite the US’s numerous approaches, the Russian side had consistently sought a person who was not even in US custody. The official claimed that in the end, the Russians continued to want the same thing, which the US was unable to satisfy.
The individual emphasised that the Russians had rejected the concessions made in order to secure Whelan’s release. “We have showed an openness to talk about that which is truly available to us and gotten only in response a demand for something not available to us,” the official said.
