The State Department revealed the topics of the upcoming conversation between Blinken and Lavrov
The US State Department sent Russia a request for a conversation between Blinken and Lavrov According to a US State Department spokesman, Blinken intends to discuss Ukraine, the “grain deal” and the prisoner exchange with the minister. If the conversation takes place, it will be the first since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine< source srcset="https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/resized/1200xH/media/img/5/06/756590354748065.jpeg 1200w" media="(min-resolution: 192dpi)" >
Anthony Blinken
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, intends to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, the “grain deal”, as well as the exchange of prisoners. This was stated during the briefing by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, broadcast by PBS News.
At the same time, according to Price, the department cannot yet say exactly when the conversation between Blinken and Lavrov will take place. “We have expressed interest, we have clearly stated to Russia that we intend to have a telephone conversation <…> we contacted the relevant Russian colleagues and sent a request for a telephone conversation. The Russian side acknowledged the existence of this request,»,— noted the representative of the State Department.
On July 27, CNN, citing a source, reported that the United States offered Moscow to exchange Viktor Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of trying to sell weapons to Colombians, for Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. After that, Blinken confirmed his intention to have a telephone conversation with Lavrov in the coming days, including about the exchange of prisoners.
A day later, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia had not entered into any agreements with the United States on the exchange of prisoners . In turn, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, confirmed the exchange talks with the United States, but indicated that no concrete results had been achieved yet.
Whelan was detained in Moscow in December 2018 on suspicion of espionage; in June 2020, the court sentenced him to 16 years in a strict regime colony. The American did not admit his guilt.
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Brittney Greiner— American basketball player and two-time Olympic champion, who was detained in February at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Vape cartridges containing hash oil were found in her hand luggage. A criminal case was opened against her under the article on drug smuggling. Greiner admitted she was smuggling drugs, but said she was “in a hurry” and did not commit the crime out of malice. The defense of the basketball player insists that medical cannabis was prescribed to her by a doctor in the United States to relieve chronic pain.
Viktor Bout— a Russian who was arrested in 2008 in Thailand. He was charged with illegal arms trafficking and supporting terrorism (the United States believes that Bout wanted to supply weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the Army of the People, which the country recognized as a terrorist organization). Two and a half years later, Bout was extradited to the United States, and already in 2012, the court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Bout pleaded not guilty.
Authors Tags Persons
Sergey Lavrov
diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia
< p class="person-card__bio">March 21, 1950
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