Russia can use Brittney Griner to hurt Joe Biden – and Putin knows it
Opinion: Vladimir Putin has taken a hostage whose captivity can inflict maximum pain on Joe Biden and the U.S.
Russia claims the U.S. is dragging its feet
Some Americans have blamed Griner for her predicament, that she ignored warnings during the Russian mobilization to stay out of that country and for possessing marijuana.
They’re missing the larger point.
Griner is the hostage of a brutal regime that cares little about human life, and certainly nothing about hers. This week it has grown more clear that the Russians are now using Griner, the reluctant celebrity, to yank the chain of the United States and embarrass its president, Joe Biden, who is leading the world opposition to Russia’s invasion.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry accused the Biden White House of dragging its feet on negotiations for the return of Griner and a second American hostage, Paul Whelan.
“We have said so many times that we're ready to negotiate,” said Maria Zakharova. “If the US embassy in Moscow has a minute of free time, they’ll tell president Joe Biden and he, in turn, will tell the families of Whelan and Griner.”
She accused the United States of provoking “media madness” rather than “fulfilling their direct official duties of maintaining contact with the diplomats of the host country,” as reported in Spain’s national daily sport newspaper Marca.
Get the picture? The Americans are dragging their feet. They’re not particularly concerned about getting Griner back.
This is a Russian lie.
White House has made Griner a high priority
In May, the U.S. government designated Griner as “wrongfully detained” and assigned a special envoy to work with the American embassy in Russia to get her back. Joe Biden has been in contact with both Griner and Whelan’s family members for months and as recently as last Friday.
The Americans have apparently put a deal on the table: Griner and Whelan in exchange for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout. If the Russians are ready to make an exchange, they know they have an eager partner.
Knowing there is enormous pressure on Biden to bring Griner home, the Russians appear to want to inflict maximum pain on the Biden White House.
With the best intentions of raising Griner’s profile, civil rights advocates made the mistake of using American race politics to try to shame the Biden White House to bring Griner home.
In Russia, they noticed.
“(The Russians) have already won,” Dani Gilbert, a Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security at Dartmouth, told the New Yorker. “They have embarrassed the U.S. government. They have put the White House in a particularly difficult position because of a political prisoner, and they’re tapping into cultural conflict.
“The fallout here in America – Russia loves it.”
Entire article:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opi...-russia-get-what-wants-pain-biden/8071911001/
Griner is the hostage of a brutal regime that cares little about human life, and certainly nothing about hers. This week it has grown more clear that the Russians are now using Griner, the reluctant celebrity, to yank the chain of the United States and embarrass its president, Joe Biden, who is leading the world opposition to Russia’s invasion.
Yeah, this is an "opinion" but it's probably not far from the truth.