Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan families to meet President Joe Biden amid US-Russia talks
President Joe Biden will meet with the wife of Brittney Griner and her agent Friday at the White House, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The Associated Press first reported the news that Biden will host Griner's camp and the sister of Paul Whelan, the Michigan corporate security executive who is also jailed in Russia.
The separate meetings are to be the first in-person encounter between Biden and the families and are taking place amid sustained but so far unsuccessful efforts by the administration to secure the Americans’ release. The administration said in July that it had made a “substantial proposal” to get them home, but despite plans for the White House meetings, there is no sign that a breakthrough is imminent.
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Griner has been held in Russia since February on drug-related charges. She was sentenced last month to nine years in prison after pleading guilty and has appealed the punishment. Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are false. The U.S. government regards both as wrongfully detained, placing their cases with the office of its top hostage negotiator.
Friday’s meetings, which both families have long sought, are intended to underscore the administration’s commitment to bringing home Griner, Whelan and other Americans jailed abroad, as well as to “connect with them on a human level as they undergo an ordeal that the Russian government has imposed on them,” said one of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the meetings had not yet been publicly announced.
Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Joe Biden to meet with Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan families
