Former Secretary of State Bill Richardson leaves for Moscow

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has recently announced plans to travel to Russia to seek the release of WNBA star Britney Greener, a source close to the deal told ABC News.

In April, Richardson, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of energy for the Clinton administration, played a role in Russia’s release of former US Navy Trevor Reed after nearly two-and-a-half years in prison.

He is expected to travel to Moscow in the next two weeks, the source said, requesting anonymity due to the emotional nature of the case.

Russia has repeatedly indicated that it wants to do business with Russians in US prisons. The new trip seems to be aimed at seeing if a similar deal could be prepared for Greener with Reed.

“We cannot comment on this matter at this time,” Richardson’s office confirmed to ABC News.

“All I can say (and officially say) is that both the Whelan and Griner families have asked us to help them release their loved ones,” Mickey Bergman, director of the Richardson International Center, told ABC News. Email.

Richardson now represents the Griner family as well as the Paul Welan family, the other former navy who has been in Russia for three and a half years.

Grenner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in basketball, has been detained in Russia since mid-February after being detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and charged by Russian authorities with VP cartridges in her suitcase.

This week, Grenner told a Moscow court that she had unintentionally brought the VP cartridges to Russia and that she wanted to accept the charges.

Biden’s administration has described Grenner as “wrongly arrested” and US officials believe Russia, like Welan and Reed, took him to negotiate with the United States.

Richardson’s trip comes at a time when the United States is willing to exchange another prisoner for the release of Grenner. Biden’s administration has said it is committed to negotiating with Russia to release Greensner, but has refused to comment on any trade.

The White House National Security Council, which was asked to comment on Richardson’s visit, told ABC News that he had a relationship with Richardson and valued his efforts, but declined to say further.

“The NCC leadership is in contact with Bill Richardson. “We appreciate the commitment of Americans to return home and we are watching Brittany and Paul be released on state channels,” NSC spokesman Adrian Watson said in a statement.

Grenner’s wife, Cheryl Greensner, said she had asked for help from the Richardson team and would support the trip.

“We asked him to help us at the Richardson Center and he encouraged me to go,” Cheryl Gernner told ABC through Greensner’s agent Linsay Kolas.

Richardson has a long history of freeing Americans from overseas. A nonprofit at the Richardson Center has helped repatriate American citizens detained in Iran and North Korea, among others.

His team spent months in shipping diplomacy on behalf of the Trevor Reed family to negotiate a possible release.

Richardson flew to Moscow on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Richardson does not represent the White House. In the case of Reed, the two sides approached the Russian government and the Biden administration separately to find out what they could agree on. Then he presented what he heard to both parties.

Finally, the White House’s Reed Prisoner of Commerce was advised by Richardson that Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot, had been released from prison in the United States on charges of smuggling drugs.

Richardson has since encouraged Biden’s management to make similar agreements with Greener and Paul Wellla.

“We will do everything we can to bring Britney Greener home safely and ensure that Paul Wella returns home,” White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said in a Greenwich court appearance on Thursday. Jean-Pierre said Greenner’s conviction would “have no effect on the effort to secure his release.”

Russian state media and officials have repeatedly flocked to Russian arms dealer Greener or Welan, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for narcotics terrorism.

Trevor Reed and his family have demanded a change of management if Willan and Greener are to be released.

Speaking to ABC News this week, Red urged President Joe Biden to do more.

“I hope President Biden and his administration will do everything possible to get both Britney and Paul out of Russia and they will do so immediately,” he told ABC News. Because you know, every day, Paul and Britney are suffering one more day while they are sitting here waiting for a decision.