Who is Viktor Bout? US seeks to swap Russia’s ‘Merchant of Death’ for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan

Who is Viktor Bout? US seeks to swap Russia’s ‘Merchant of Death’ for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan
Biden administration is willing to swap Viktor Bout (M) for Paul Whelan (L) and Brittney Griner (R)

The US government is ready to make a deal with Russia in which they are willing to swap one person of interest for two people of theirs. The Biden administration confirmed on Wednesday, July 27, that they had made an important proposal to free two people of theirs. The Russian man that the Biden administration is willing to swap is considered to be a high-value asset to the Russian government as per former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler. 

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The Biden administration is willing to swap Viktor Bout in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner and retired US Marine Paul Whelan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he has plans to discuss this swap with his Russian counterpart in their first encounter since the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian officials have long pushed for the release of Bout who was arrested in 2008. Since then, the Russian government has called his arrest "unlawful" and even accused the US government of making him a target of politics. As reported by Fox News, a White House spokesperson said, "The US government continues to work aggressively, pursuing every avenue, to make that happen, and as part of those efforts we made a substantial proposal to bring Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan home."