Blinken talks on the phone with Lavrov about the exchange of prisoners

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and urged Moscow to accept the US offer to release two prisoners.

Blinken has said Wednesday that Washington has offered Russia an agreement envisioning the return of American basketball player Britney Greener and the other imprisoned American, Paul Whelan.

This was Blinken's first conversation with Lavrov since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

Blinken gave no details of Lavrov's response, but described the telephone conversation as “open and direct” focused mainly on the proposal for the release of Americans.

“asked Foreign Minister Lavrov to move forward with that proposal. I can't give you an assessment if this is going to happen”

An official familiar with these developments has said the US government has proposed to Russia the exchange of Whelan and Greener, with Russian convicted of arms trade, Victor Bout.

Lavrov has said earlier that he is open to discuss the exchange of detainees, though the foreign ministry has not been involved in past discussions on the issue.

I'll hear what Lavrov has to say.

Asked about the American offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that exchange of prisoners is usually negotiated in the background.

“We know that these issues are discussed without publicising”, Peskov told reporters.

“ECally, the public understands something when the agreements are reached”.

Blinken's comments mark the first time the US government has spoken publicly about how it aims to act to ensure Greener's freedom.

Its arrest has occurred at the time of mounting tensions between Moscow and Washington, following the start of Russia's war in Ukraine on 24 February.

The five-month ban on basketball has been met with much criticism from its supporters in the United States.

In the trial of charges about drug possession, held outside Moscow this month, she has said there has been a doctor's recommendation for use of cannabis to deal with the pain she experiences because of her career.

Whelan was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison in Russia, on charges of spying.

He denies that he has ever been involved in something like that.