The Biden administration has worked “every available channel” in recent weeks in a bid to bring home Brittney Griner from Russia, President Joe Biden’s top national security adviser said.
Griner, a basketball superstar, will serve nine years in a penal colony unless the U.S. government is able to secure her release. A Russian court upheld the sentence Tuesday.
In a statement, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan condemned the court’s ruling as a “sham” as the administration works to free Griner, who has been held since her arrest in February and whom the United States considers wrongfully detained.
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“In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris administration has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney,” Sullivan said.
The WNBA player continues to be held “under intolerable circumstances,” Sullivan said, after facing “another sham judicial proceeding.”
Griner appeared for the proceedings Tuesday via video link from the detention center where she has been detained since February, according to the New York Times.
She was convicted in August after pleading guilty to carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage through a Moscow airport.
The Biden administration has faced months of intense pressure to bring Griner home, acknowledging in July a “substantial proposal” that is believed to have included a prisoner swap with a convicted Russian arms dealer.
Biden has said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at next month’s G-20 summit to discuss a possible swap but suggested little progress had been made with the Russian leader. Asked recently whether there was any movement in the Griner case, the president responded, “Not with Putin.”
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Russia is also holding Paul Whelan, another American considered wrongfully detained by the administration, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage-related charges.
Sullivan said the administration is advocating Whelan’s release as well. He said that Biden has been shown willing “to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions” to bring home Americans detained overseas.
