Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson plans to travel to Russia in the near future for talks aimed at finding a deal to free detained WNBA star Brittney Greener, a source familiar with the proposed trip told ABC News.
Richardson, who also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of energy in the Clinton administration, played a role in brokering a prisoner swap in April in which Russia freed former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed after nearly two and a half years in captivity.
He is expected to go to Moscow in the next few weeks, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Russia has repeatedly said it is interested in exchanging Griner for Russians held in American prisons. The new ride appears to be aimed at seeing if a similar deal to the one that freed Reed can be made for Greener.
Richardson’s office would not confirm the potential visit, telling ABC News that “we cannot comment on that at this time.”
“What I can say (and is publicly known) is that the Whelan and Greener families have asked us to help free their loved ones,” Mickey Bergman, executive director of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, told ABC News in an email mail.
Richardson currently represents the Greener family, as well as the family of Paul Whelan, the other former Marine held by Russia for three and a half years.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in basketball, has been detained in Russia since mid-February after she was stopped at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and accused by Russian authorities of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
Griner told a Moscow court this week that she would like to plead guilty to the charges, saying she brought the vape cartridges into Russia unintentionally, explaining that she did not mean to leave them in her bag.
The Biden administration has classified Greener as “unlawfully detained,” and U.S. officials believe Russia captured her, like Whelan and Reid, to use as a bargaining chip with the U.S.
Richardson’s possible trip comes amid speculation that the US might want to do another prisoner swap to free Greener. The Biden administration said it was committed to negotiating with Russia for Greener’s release, but declined to comment on whether it was considering any trade.
In this Nov. 16, 2021 file photo, former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson speaks to reporters during a news conference in New York.
Craig Ruttle/AP, FILE
Asked to comment on Richardson’s potential visit, the White House National Security Council told ABC it was in contact with Richardson and appreciated his efforts, but declined to say more.
“NSC leadership has been in contact with Bill Richardson. We appreciate his commitment to bringing Americans home and are pursuing the release of Britney and Paul through government channels,” NSC spokesman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Greiner’s wife, Cheryl Greiner, said she has enlisted the help of Richardson’s team and would support a trip if it happens.
“We asked the Richardson Center for help, and I’m encouraged that he can go,” Cheryl Greener said in a statement to ABC through Greener’s agent, Lindsey Colas.
Richardson has a long history of working to free Americans wrongfully detained abroad. Through his nonprofit, the Richardson Center, he has helped return American citizens imprisoned in Iran and North Korea, among others.
His team represented the family of Trevor Reed and spent months in shuttle diplomacy trying to outline a possible deal for his release.
Richardson even flew to Moscow on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a last-ditch effort to persuade Russia to make a deal.
Richardson does not represent the White House. In Reid’s case, he reached out separately to the Russian government and the Biden administration to try to get a feel for what both sides might accept as any possible deal. He then relayed what he had heard to both parties.
After all, the prisoner trade the White House made for Reid was the same one Richardson had advocated: the release of Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving time in an American prison for drug smuggling.
Richardson has since encouraged the Biden administration to consider similar deals for Greener and Paul Whelan.
American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained in March at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki, outside Moscow, Russia, July 7, 2022.
Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
After Griner’s court appearance Thursday, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said “we will do everything we can to bring Brittney Griner home safely, and to make sure we get Paul Whalen home as well.” . Jean-Pierre said Griner’s guilty plea would have “no impact” on efforts to negotiate her release.
Russian state media and officials have repeatedly suggested Greiner or Whelan trade with Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer dubbed the “Merchant of Death” in the media and currently serving a 25-year sentence on narco-terrorism charges.
Trevor Reid and his family urged the Biden administration to trade Booth if it would free Whelan and Griner.
Speaking to ABC News this week, Reid urged President Joe Biden to do more.
“I hope that President Biden and his administration will do everything they can to get both Britney and Paul out of Russia, and that they will do it immediately,” he told ABC News. “Because every day that, you know, they’re sitting here waiting to make a decision is another day that, you know, Paul and Britney are suffering.”
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