bRitney Griner’s situation in Russia had not changed much until this Thursday after being sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and trafficking. A new report from The Associated Press confirms that President Joe Biden has planned a meeting with the WNBA star’s family on Friday. The information gets more interesting here, as Biden is also scheduled to meet with Paul Whelan’s family.
Whelan is the other American who was proposed for a prisoner swap in Russia, having been in a Russian prison with espionage charges. Back in July, the United States government announced that they had offered the business to infamous arms dealer Victor Bout. Since then, little is known about the deal made available to the public.
Why is Biden meeting Griner and Whelan’s families?
As the AP reports, these Friday meetings are expected to make families feel more confident in the United States government’s commitment to bringing both Griner and Whelan back to the country. According to one of the officials who disclosed this information, President Biden also wanted to speak directly to him “to engage with them on a human level as they go through a test imposed on them by the Russian government.”
The AP kept this source anonymous as the meetings have yet to be announced to the public. There may be another interesting aspect of these meetings that is not being discussed. A different angle that makes these encounters even more important than them.
Reportedly, these meetings will be held separately to ensure that each family has a private moment with the President. The meeting was reportedly also scheduled ahead of Bill Richardson’s unaffiliated visit to Russia, which is known to deal with international hostage and detainees.
Knowing how the United States government works, they wouldn’t schedule these appointments if they didn’t have any news for the families of both detainees. We are all hoping they are good news and we can see them both safe and sound in the country.