Russia and the United States are discussing prisoner exchanges through “special channels,” according to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Sergei Ryabkov. He “definitely” expects that they will come up with something, he told the Interfax news agency.
According to Ryabkov, Russian Viktor But is high on the list in that case. But is a former KGB man who became one of the world’s largest arms dealers and who is said to have supplied quantities of weapons to several of the world’s major conflicts.
But was arrested in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2011 to 25 years in prison there. He was convicted, among other things, for supplying the Farc guerrillas in Colombia with weapons.
Earlier this year, the US magazine Forbes reported that the US government offered But in exchange for American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was recently imprisoned in Russia.
More on the negotiations between the US and Russia, in the player above.