ADMIN BLINKEN: Appear, what we’ve demonstrated every along is that despite the problems, to say the least, in the larger partnership, despite the Russian war associated with aggression against Ukraine, we could work on specific issues, specific interests that we have, to see if we can – if we could make progress. And so almost all along we’ve been involved on trying to get Americans back again who are being unjustly detained. There are other aspects of the connection where we continue to have some contact, for example on hands control, and we’ll always do that as necessary to try to advance the American national interest.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Margaret, what I can tell you is this: We are working on every unjustly held American every single day, and regardless of the relationship that we may have with all the countries in question, irrespective of what’s going on more broadly along with those countries, we’re focusing on these cases, including the situations that you cited. As well as for me, it’s a number one particular priority to bring Americans anyplace who are being unjustly jailed, to bring them home, to get them back with their families. I have a card that I keep in my pocket. I have got the names of those Americans on that card. I’m working it; we’re working it every day.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: One of the reasons that people work hard to separate out the particular efforts to bring Americans home from any other aspect of the relationship is precisely to make certain that even if the other aspect of the connection is in a bad place, generally there still may be an opportunity to bring our citizens home.
QUESTION: We will follow that will. And I want to make certain I ask you – you brought up that there are lots of Americans being held around the world. Right now, Emad Shargi, Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz are just some of the Americans being held in Iran. Is a hostage deal with Tehran still possible?
Regarding Viktor Bout, these are hard decisions. And eventually, those of us working for the President make recommendations, give recommendation. He’s the one who has to make the hard calls, and made a hard call. Viktor Bout’s been from the playing field since 2008, which is a very good thing, and served about half of his sentence. At some point in the years to come he was going to move out, and I’m glad at least that we were able to get Brittney Griner home.
QUESTION: He’s about 15 many years into that 25-year word. And I know the previous three administrations have executed prisoner swaps, but among the criticisms here is that Viktor Bout was so visible and he was clearly of high interest to Russia. Brittney Griner is a superstar, so she got lots of attention. In this transaction, did you somehow up the price on the head associated with another American by showing that a swap like this, that Russia can get something it really wants if it just kidnaps and holds hostage the appropriate American?
QUESTION: I want to make sure I ask you about a discussion Paul Whelan had today with another network, CNN. They spoke to him while he is at that Russian penal colony. He said he is being treated differently than Brittney Griner and in a different way than Trevor Reed. Do you believe that Russia is definitely holding on to him until they will get a significant concession from the Biden administration?
QUESTION: But just to become clear here, those 3 that I named to you, all those three Americans in Iran, is the deal to get all of them out dead now that the particular nuclear deal is discouraged, now that relations between the U. S. and Iran have been in a very bad place?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, Margaret.
We’ve added new sanctions against those who engage in these types of practices, visa bans as well. We’ve put new warnings out to every American as they’re considering take a trip for specific countries that engage in these practices to try to warn them off. And one of the things that I am working on is we now have the coalition of 60 nations that are determined to do more to finish this practice going forward – that is, basically taking residents hostage for political purposes, which is the case for both Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner. And that is a coalition that’s coming jointly and that we’re adding tooth to. So we need to do both at the same time; we are.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, it was completely unacceptable that Brittney Griner was behind bars their self and Paul Whelan remains behind bars. And that – my number one focus is on righting that wrong and ending that will injustice.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well first, Margaret, it’s a good day due to the fact Brittney Griner’s coming house. I had the chance to be in the Oval Office earlier this morning with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Cherelle Griner, Brittney’s wife. And to hear the two of them get on the phone and have that conversation – with Brittney free, out of Russia, on her way home – has been something I won’t overlook. And it’s simply a reminder too that a lot of what we do every single day it seems like is an abstraction, but it’s a reminder that it’s ultimately about genuine people, real lives, real futures. And it is wonderful that Brittney plus Cherelle and their families are able to pursue their lives now that she is free and arriving home.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Two things, Margaret. First, as you noted at the outset, in any of these situations, unfortunately, the other side gets a election, the other side gets a veto. And the Russians used that as we’ve suggested different ways of doing this. Second, we can bring people home, as we did, but also work and take action to deter this from happening going forward in the future.
QUESTION: Thank you. And we proceed now to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who ties us from the State Department. It’s good approach you again. When we last spoke on Sunday, you suggested that the Russians were not yet prepared to release both prisoners, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. You said the other side will get a vote in this. Now that Viktor Bout continues to be handed over, what leverage does the United States still have?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: We’re working around the world, including in Russia, to ensure that any American who is becoming unjustly detained comes home. And we’ve been accomplishing this day in, day out because the beginning of this administration. The President has made, most of the time, the hard decisions required to bring them home. We’re carrying out that. I am never going to rest until we obtain everyone back that we possibly can.
QUESTION: We’ll continue asking you about their well-being, and am know you’ll continue working on that. Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time today.
QUESTION: But are we correct within understanding that this one-for-one exchange was just a single deal, that there’s not some thing more tied to it?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yes, that’s correct. This was about getting Brittney home. This is about getting unjustly detained Americans back to their loved ones. That’s – that was the focus. It’s absolutely nothing more. It’s also nothing less.
QUESTION: Viktor Bout, the hands dealer who was swapped designed for Brittney Griner – and as I’m sure you know, there have been federal law enforcement officials very associated with capturing him, with prosecuting him for trying to destroy Americans, and then extraditing your pet from Thailand to the United States to make sure he was kept behind bars in this country – and there is aggravation among so many of them as they see him just used in a transaction like this. How can you respond to those officials who seem to worked to put him behind bars?
QUESTION: Is there momentum coming out of this exchange at this specific very tense moment between the U. S. and Russia? Is there an opportunity here?
ISSUE: And I wish to toss it – toss it back to my colleagues Elaine and Tanya in Nyc.
ISSUE: And I understand there are people around the world working on just that pursuit of bringing People in america home. What do you think actually changed in the last couple weeks? Because you’ve been trying for months to get Brittney Griner released. What changed that made the particular Russians ready now to agent this deal?
But as to going forward, look, I actually wish that Paul Whelan had been on that airplane, too. We’ve been doing everything possible to bring him out. And just as back in April when President Biden’s guaranteed Trevor Reed’s release through Russia, we wanted Brittney and Paul to be on that plane, too. They weren’t, but now Brittney is, and we will not cease until we get Paul home, too.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Margaret, back in Come july 1st I shared the fact that we put a significant proposal available with the Russians to try to get our own people home, to get Paul, to get Brittney home. Ever since then we’ve already been engaged with them in one method or another looking at different mixtures to try to make that take place, and we got to the point where it had been clear that there was an opportunity to bring Brittney back. The choice wasn’t between obtaining one American or the other back; it was – the option before us was one or none. And the Leader decided that it was important to a minimum of bring Brittney home now and continue to work on obtaining Paul back too.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Margaret, I can not judge what Russia’s specific motives are and how it is treating Paul Whelan or even what it’s trying to do or trying to achieve. I spoke to his sister, Elizabeth Whelan, a short while ago. I have to say the Whelan family is definitely remarkable, starting with Paul great own courage but also within their incredible graciousness, especially in this time around. What I told all of them and what I can tell you is we will continue to do everything possible to bring Paul Whelan home. We won’t prevent until we do.
QUESTION: And Marc Fogel is another American whose wife says that she would have loved for him to have already been part of a prisoner release. Is there a plan to produce more Americans?
