She’s safe, she’s on a plane, and you can’t go home, but you can do it, I know you have been warned, but if you are going there, you’re not going there
She is safe. She is on a plane. Biden made the statement from the Roosevelt Room, saying that she was on her way home after months of being wrongly held in Russia.
Biden spoke with a person at the Oval Office prior to making the announcement. He said she was in a good state but would need some time to heal.
According to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry of Russia, Griner was exchanged at the Abu Dhabi airport for Bout.
The U.S. government has long resisted prisoner swaps out of concern that it could encourage the imprisonment of more Americans abroad. The exchange for Bout should not be interpreted as a new normal practice, but that there are times where there are no alternatives, a Biden official said.
The official said the administration felt a “moral obligation,” as well as a policy obligation, to bring people who are being held hostage or detained home.
We begin by asking how it is acceptable for someone likeBrittney Griner to be put through a sham proceeding and forced to spend time in a Russian penal colony. “That’s unacceptable and we regard that as so,” the official said.
Senior administration officials told reporters on a conference call later that the agreement to secure Griner’s release was made in recent days after months of talks and a variety of proposals — proposals that were aimed at also trying to secure Whelan’s release.
An official told reporters on a conference call that there wasn’t a choice of who to bring home. It was a decision between bringing home one American and never returning, or not returning at all.
Cherelle Griner said she was overwhelmed by emotions, expressing gratitude to Biden, Vice President Harris and other members of the administration involved in securing her wife’s release. She thanked the WNBA, Griner’s agent and others.
One of the first openly gay athletes to sign a Nike endorsement contract is Phoenix Mercury center Sylviant Griner, a seven-time All-Star and two time Olympic gold medal winner. She played for Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team during the NBA’s summer season.
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She was sentenced last August by a Russian court to nine years in prison for carrying less than a gram of hash oil into Russia when she arrived in February of this year for play in the Russian women’s professional basketball league. She was sent to a prison colony 300 miles from Moscow last month to begin serving her sentence.
As a result, the court saw that the hash oil was prescribed by her US doctor in order to treat her pain.
On Wednesday a U.S. official visited Whelan’s sister and spoke to him in jail about the news. The official said Biden would speak to the family.
The next leg of her journey back to the US was at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, early Friday, where she arrived following what the US government described as wrongful detainment that left her family and loved ones with little information or consolation.
“We are now focused on ensuring that Brittney and her family’s well-being are prioritized and that all available assistance can be offered to them through an appropriate manner,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a news briefing Friday.
The swap that resulted in the release of a US citizen in Abu Dhabi on Thursday has been mixed in the States, as not also included in the swap is another US citizen.
She said that although all of them wanted to see her, they would prefer to hear her voice on the phone.
Jackson Lee – who represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas including Griner’s hometown of Houston – said aspects of the two-time Olympian’s current welfare “have to be reviewed.”
She has spoken to her family members here, she sounded good, looking forward to seeing them, and we also know that she walked on her own abilities when she landed in San Antonio.
The statement thanked the people who had sent the kind words, thoughts and prayers, as well as the Whelan family who had been generous with their support for the family.
Despite being seen as a diplomatic win between two of the world’s largest nations over the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is not yet any information regarding Whelan’s release.
The US tried to get Russia to swap both of them for Bout but Russian officials wouldn’t budge on the fact that their cases were treated differently based on the charges against them.
“This is a precarious situation that needs to be resolved quickly,” Whelan told CNN in a phone interview. “I would hope that (Biden) and his administration would do everything they could to get me home, regardless of the price they might have to pay at this point.”
Biden said that it wasn’t a choice of who to bring home. For illegitimate reasons, Russia is respecting Paul’s case differently than anyone else. We are not giving up despite not getting Paul’s release yet. We will not give up.
Paul Whelan’s sister said that the public discussion surrounding a potential swap has been difficult for her family to hear, adding that she thinks he is being discussed as if his only value was what he would give up for.
Elizabeth said her brother is worth more to the US than any Russian criminal, since the family has made it clear in their discussions with the US government.
“Russia was a place that paid us a lot of money for our talent, more than being here in our own country,” McCoughtry told CNN on Friday. “It’s sad to say I’m wealthy not because of the WNBA, but my years overseas. I would make my WNBA salary in one month overseas – my whole salary”
“For too long women sports have been undervalued, under-invested in,” said Engelbert, who noted that less than 1% of all corporate sponsorship funding goes to women’s sports.
The league was formed in 1996, and is a relatively young one. Still, she added the organization is working on a three-to-five-year plan to drive up players’ pay.
And as those changes are slowly underway, Engelbert said she believes players will continue to play overseas, especially because the average tenure in the WNBA is about five years.
They will be able to make more money in leagues outside of the US during the off-season. We want them to come and play at the highest level once they are back in the States.
The Way To Promote Women: How to Promote Women in a Globally Accepting and Evolving World Environment to Improve Women’s Health
If you promote the women the same way as the men, people will watch. They will come to watch once we get the brand partnerships behind us and people know who we are. It will grow.”