The prisoner swap between Russia and the US has many interesting aspects. Like the discrepancy in the crimes of basketball player Griner and arms dealer Bout. Or the embedding in the Ukraine conflict. It is also noteworthy who, according to the Gulf States, conducted the negotiations.
According to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the sensational prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States was made possible. The deal was brokered under the leadership of Emirati President Mohammed bin Sajid Al Nahjan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the foreign ministries of both countries said.
Representatives of the US government thanked the United Arab Emirates several times on Thursday for their help with the exchange, but remained reticent about Riyadh. Thanks are given to a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, for raising the Griners case with the Kremlin, Presidential spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. However, only the USA and Russia negotiated.
Bin Salman is very controversial internationally: US President Joe Biden was criticized for his visit to the ultra-conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the summer. Mohammed bin Salman is believed to be behind the 2018 murder of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
As part of the mediation, US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, and Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was imprisoned in the US, have now been released and are said to be on their way to their home countries.
Athlete Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February. According to the Russian judiciary, she had so-called vape cartridges and hash oil with her when she checked her luggage. It is said to have been 0.5 grams. This was ruled as illegal drug possession and attempted smuggling. Bout has something more on his plate: the Russian citizen was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States in 2012. He is said to have illegally equipped criminal regimes and rebels in numerous countries with weapons.
The prisoner exchange was successful thanks to the close friendship between the two Gulf states with both Russia and the United States, the statement said. However, the USA is likely to view its relationship with Saudi Arabia, its long-standing partner, as less close at the moment.
In addition to the killing of Khashoggi, Washington is also angered by the oil production cuts imposed by the Saudi-led OPEC countries. Biden had previously campaigned for an expansion of oil production, also in the interests of the global economy. The US government sharply criticized the decision and saw it as support for the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Since then, Saudi Arabia has been sending signs of relaxation in the dispute with the USA. Riyadh is dependent on American security guarantees in the region where Saudi Arabia is struggling with arch-enemy Iran for supremacy. At the same time, the kingdom is also looking for new partners, such as China, whose head of state Xi Jinping is currently visiting the country.
In August, a Russian court sentenced Griner to nine years in a camp for drug possession in a trial heavily criticized by the United States.
