© TASS
United Arab Emirates: American basketball player Griner returns to US
(AP) — Brittney Griner has returned to the United States, nearly 10 months after the basketball star’s detention in Russia made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad and set off a political firestorm.
Griner’s status as an openly gay Black woman, her prominence in women’s basketball and her imprisonment in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LGBTQ community brought tremendous attention to her case. Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine after her arrest complicated matters further.
The deal saw Griner exchanged Thursday for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout. But the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American.
Asked if more such swaps could happen, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that “everything is possible.” President Biden spoke by phone with Griner, who was reunited with her wife, Cherelle.
U.S. officials who met her upon arrival said she was in “very good spirits” and appeared to be in good health, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who noted that she would be offered specialized medical services and counseling.
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