JanguKamaJangu
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- Feb 7, 2022
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Urusi imeonesha dalili za kuwa tayari kwa mazungumzo ya kubadilishana wafungwa siku moja baada ya Mahakama ya Urusi kumuhukumu mchezaji wa kikapu wa Marekani, Brittney Griner kifungo cha miaka tisa jela.
Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje wa Urusi, Sergey Lavrov amesema wapo tayari kwa mazungumzo hayo kwa kuzingatia kile ambacho marais wa Nchi hizo (Vladimir Putin wa Urusi na Joe Biden wa Marekani) watakavyokubaliana.
Muda mfupi baada ya kauli hiyo, Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje wa Marekani, Antony Blinken amesema Marekani itazungumza na Urusi
Griner, mshindi wa medali ya dhahabu ya Olimpiki mara mbili na nyota wa Chama cha Kikapu cha Kitaifa cha Wanawake (WNBA), alikamatwa mnamo mwezi Februari alipokuwa akiwasili kuchezea timu ya Urusi baada ya kumalizika kwa msimu wa WNBA.
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Lavrov says Russia is ready to discuss prisoner swap with US after Griner conviction
The US and Russia have indicated they are ready to hold talks over a prisoner swap, a day after basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison for carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil through a Moscow airport.
Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Cambodia that the Kremlin is "ready to discuss this topic, but within the framework of the channel that has been agreed by the presidents," state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
"There is a specified channel that has been agreed upon by [Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden], and no matter what anyone says publicly, this channel will remain in effect," Lavrov reportedly said Friday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
Shortly later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the same summit that the US will "pursue" talks with Russia.
"We put forward, as you know, a substantial proposal that Russia should engage with us on. And what Foreign Minister Lavrov said this morning and said publicly is that they are prepared to engage through channels we've established to do just that. And we'll be pursuing that," Blinken told reporters at a press briefing.
The comments from each side suggest that a negotiation process, which has already proven complex, could accelerate in the coming days.
Russian government officials requested last month that a former colonel from the country's domestic spy agency, who was convicted of murder in Germany last year, be included in the US' proposed swap of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner and Paul Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Whelan, a US citizen, has been held by Russia since 2018 and was convicted by a Russian court in 2020 on espionage charges that he has strenuously denied. Griner's conviction has raised similar concerns that she is being used as a political pawn in Russia's war against Ukraine. The US State Department classifies the pair as wrongfully detained.
Griner, a Women's National Basketball Association star, pleaded guilty to carrying cannabis oil in her luggage as she traveled through a Moscow airport on February 17. She testified in court that she was aware of Russia's strict drug laws and had no intention of bringing cannabis into the country, saying she was in a rush and "stress packing."
Source: CNN
