Russia’s sentencing of WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison is an outrage. This ruling shames Russian honor and crystallizes the utter rot of its justice system.
To be clear, Griner was given this outrageous sentence not because she may or may not have had marijuana oil in her luggage but because Vladimir Putin believes she offers him useful leverage with the U.S. government. She is an unjustly held hostage, pure and simple. As is Paul Whelan, another American wrongly imprisoned in Russia.
Putin must not be vindicated in his belief that it pays to take Americans hostage.
On paper, the Biden administration seems to recognize this. Responding to Griner’s sentence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken observed that “Russia, and any country engaging in wrongful detention, represents a threat to the safety of everyone traveling, working, and living abroad. The United States opposes this practice everywhere. ”
The problem with this statement is that it flies in the face of the Biden administration’s actions. After all, Blinken has spent the past few weeks quite literally begging his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to agree to a prisoner swap. The deal on the table would see Griner and Whelan returned home in exchange for the U.S.’s release of Viktor Bout.
The problem is this agreement would see the release of two American civilians in return for an actual terrorist.
Mr. Bout is not some Russian hockey player held in an American gulag because President Joe Biden wants to hurt Russia and win its concessions. Bout is in federal prison because he is an arms dealer who was convicted of numerous very serious charges, including conspiracy to murder American citizens. Bout isn’t just any arms dealer. Alongside his patronage of the GRU, Russia’s most aggressive intelligence service, this hardened criminal provided arms support to al Qaeda-linked groups and the Lebanese Hezbollah. These are determined enemies not simply of the U.S. but of innocent people around the world. Bout is set for release in August 2029, and that is the minimum date on which he should be freed.
Still, Putin has reason to believe he can get his massive terrorist fish freed. The Biden administration has already released a major Russian drug dealer in return for an unjustly held former U.S. Marine. As we noted last month, that agreement signaled to Moscow that it could extort Washington without facing significant riposte — a terrible message to send a regime that has a distinct disregard for human rights and the U.S. more generally.
This is a critical point to note. Putin views the U.S. in the same way that his former KGB employer viewed the U.S. — as “the main enemy.” Politically and sometimes physically, Putin likes to hurt the U.S. His treatment of Griner, Whelan, and co. allows him to do that.
The Russian president must surely be ecstatic at the success his hostage-taking has delivered thus far. Rather than seeing his interests hit with new sanctions and U.S. retaliation, Putin is winning.
So what should be done?
As we have argued before, the best way to confront this aggression is to increase the price attached to it. Putin must be made to understand that his terrorist-style treatment of American citizens will cost him far more than any benefits it can accrue. The Investigative Committee of Russia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and those involved in the prosecution, detention, and sentencing of Americans must face immediate sanctions. Their assets and movement in the West should be seized, with Washington pressuring allies to assist where necessary. It may also be necessary to expand the structural economic sanctions on Russia if Putin fails to offer a more credible resolution for Griner and Whelan’s release.
But the simple, hard truth is that, as with terrorist groups’ hostage-taking of Americans, there is more at stake here than the freedom of the hostages. Failing to recognize that Putin is taking Americans hostage because it benefits him to do so, the U.S. will only encourage his continuation of that conduct. Washington’s rewarding of hostage-taking will also encourage Putin to believe the U.S. is timid. At the margin, such an understanding will make Americans and our interests more vulnerable.
What is happening to Griner and Whelan is outrageous and should be a priority of the U.S. government. But dancing to Putin’s hostage waltz will only achieve that which dancing to Putin’s waltzes always ultimately achieves: more harm for America and our allies. It’s time to raise the price for the hostage-taker in Moscow.
