Kremlin warns Washington that possible prisoner swap needs to needs to be negotiated without fanfare

Washington offered Kremlin convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, as announced by convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner on Wednesday.

But Kremlin warned US government that possible prisoner swap involving WNBA star Brittney Griner needs to be negotiated quietly without fanfare.

Per ESPN, Asked about the U.S. offer, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov replied that prisoner swaps were typically negotiated discreetly behind the scenes.

“We know that such issues are discussed without any such release of information,” Peskov told reporters during a conference call. “Normally, the public learns about it when the agreements are already implemented.”

He emphasized that “no agreements have been finalized” and refused to provide further details.

In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russian and U.S. officials have conducted negotiations about possible prisoner exchanges and “there has been no concrete result yet.”

“We proceed from the assumption that interests of both parties should be taken into account during the negotiations,” Zakharova said.