Biden to meet with Brittney Griner, Whelan families in person

President Biden is scheduled to meet with Brittney Griner’s wife in person for the first time on Friday as the U.S. continues negotiating for Griner’s release.

Cherelle Griner has been asking for the in-person meeting for months. The two spoke by phone in July.

Biden is also set to meet with the family of Paul Whelan, another American wrongfully detained in Russia.

The U.S. reportedly offered a prisoner swap to get both Griner and Whelan back home, but Russia apparently rejected the offer. American diplomats said they offered to send convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia in exchange for the two Americans.

That offer was made in late July; Griner and Whelan remain behind bars in Russia. Whelan has been there since 2018.

“(Biden) wanted to let them know that they remain front of mind and that his team is working on this every day on making sure that Brittney and Paul return home safely,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday at a press briefing.

Cherelle Griner has repeatedly begged Biden and his administration for help bringing her wife home. She was particularly upset that a June call to Brittney, scheduled for their anniversary, fell through when the U.S. embassy dropped the ball.

“I was distraught. I was hurt. I was done, fed up,” Cherelle said.

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Russian authorities arrested Griner on Feb. 17 for carrying cannabis oil in her luggage. One week later, Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine, and U.S.-Russia relations hit their frostiest point since the end of the Cold War.

Despite the rocky terms, the two countries managed to negotiate a prisoner swap in April involving American Trevor Reed and Russian Konstantin Yaroshenko.

Griner’s case, however, moved through the Russian legal system without any hint of a release. She pleaded guilty to the drug possession charges in hopes of a lenient sentence, but was instead ordered to spend nine years behind bars. She has appealed the verdict.

Whelan, a 52-year-old ex-Marine, was arrested in Russia in 2018 on espionage charges, which the U.S. says are bogus.

Though Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison, his case was not well known until Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA star, was arrested.

Foreign policy experts expect Russia will demand a two-for-two swap, instead of the two-for-one that was previously proposed. U.S. leaders would likely argue that one basketball star plus one corporate security director is more than enough in exchange for a man known as the “Merchant of Death.”

With News Wire Services