Free! US Basketball Player Griner Exchanged Former Russian Weapons Trader: His Mediation Led By The President Of The UAE And The Crown Prince Of Saudi Arabia

Tersebutney Griner. (Wikimedia Commons/DIGNYGYGRI)

JAKARTA - United States basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on his way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said Thursday, ending what he called months of "fiting".

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had exchanged Griners for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms trader. The exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, the Russian news agency said.

"He is safe, he is on the plane, he is on his way home after months of unfair detention in Russia, detained in into intolerable circumstances," President Biden told reporters at the White House, adding he would arrive in the next 24 hours.

"This is a day we have been trying for a long time. We have never stopped pushing for his release," President Biden continued.

Griner, the Phoenix Mercury star of the Women's National Basketball Association, was arrested on February 17. The dialogue to secure his release was complicated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, as well as the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Moscow.

The exchange is one of the most famous and rare examples of cooperation between Washington and Moscow since the invasion.

UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud led mediation efforts ensuring Griner's release, a joint UAE-Arab Saudi statement said.

Griner arrived in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi on a private plane from Moscow after being released by Russian authorities, the statement said. Similarly, Bout also came on a private plane from Washington after being released by US authorities.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by telephone with Griner from the Oval Office. The White House released a photo of the phone call.

"The last few months have been hell for Britney," President Biden said.

Two Olympic gold medalists, Griner was arrested at Moscow airport when a vape casing filled with marijuana oil, banned in Russia, was found in his suitcase.

He was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in prison on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs. He pleaded guilty, but said he had made an "honest mistake" and had not intended to violate the law. Last month he was taken to a colony in Russia's Mordovia to serve prison terms.