Russia ready to talk prisoner swap with US

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia is ready to talk about a prisoner swap for imprisoned Americans, but he said that the Kremlin would resist public pressure to free US basketball star Brittney Griner and others held in Russian prisons.

Lavrov made a statement on the matter a day after Griner received a nine-year prison sentence on drug charges that were seen as a gambit to demand an exchange for high-profile Russians in prison in the US, including the arms trafficker Viktor Bout.

At a press conference in Cambodia, Lavrov said we are ready to discuss the issue of a swap, but this should be done via the channel approved by the presidents, Putin and Biden.

He said that a backchannel had been set up by Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, meaning no matter who says what in public, this channel remains relevant. The backchannel appeared to have succeeded in arranging the release of Trevor Reed, an ex-marine who had been in jail for more than two years before he was exchanged for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been held on drug smuggling charges for more than a decade.

Lavrov warned that Russia would not respond to megaphone diplomacy demanding that negotiations be carried out discreetly.

If this is another case of the Americans resorting to public diplomacy and loud statements on their pending steps, it is their business or I would even say their problem, because the Americans often don't honour the agreement on doing calm, professional work, he said.

During her trial, Griner and her legal team tried to steer clear of politics. I know everyone keeps talking about political pawn and politics but I hope that is far from the courtroom, Griner said in a closing statement on Thursday.

Lavrov said he had not discussed the issue of a swap with the US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who also attended the ASEAN conference in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, didn't want to comment on a potential swap for Bout, the arms trafficker. These swaps will never happen if we start talking about the exchange in the press, he told reporters on Friday.