UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed brought up Griner during his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Russia in October.
The UAE's efforts to facilitate Griner’s release were part of a wider strategy by the Emiratis to use its relations with the U.S. and Russia to help solve specific issues related to theThe negotiations on the prisoner swap were done directly between the U.S. and Russia, but in early October, the two sides appeared to be at a stalemate. The Russians hadproposal that included both Griner and jailed American Paul Whelan, a senior administration official told reporters last week.
The source said that Emirati officials discussed the planned meeting in advance with the Biden administration and told the U.S. they were going to raise the issue of prisoner swaps and Griner's case specifically.he told the Russian president that the UAE would try to help facilitate the possible scenario in which Griner was swapped for arms dealer Viktor Bout.Between the lines:
Because of the poor relations between the U.S. and Russia and the political costs, neither country wanted to make a direct swap and needed a third party to facilitate it, according to the source. A day before the swap, MBZ spoke to Putin to close the last details. Only then it was clear that the deal was going forward, the source said. The time for the swap was set for Dec. 8 at 4pm in Abu Dhabi.The White House referred me to statements last week by U.S. officials. President Biden last week thanked the UAE “for helping to facilitate” Griner’s return.
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