- Griner wishes he wasn’t the only person returning to the United States
- He was surprised to discover that the deal didn’t include Paul Whelan as well.
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Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner says she hoped she wouldn’t be the only American released from a Russian prison in 2022.
Griner was arrested in February 2022 and released in December in a prisoner exchange with the Russians.
In a preview of an interview Griner had with Robin Roberts on ABC’s 20/20, the WNBA star says she hoped Paul Whelan would be on the plane with her.
Whelan has been detained in Russia since 2018 on charges of espionage and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020.
‘When I kept walking and didn’t see him, I thought, okay, maybe I’m early. Maybe he’ll be next. Maybe they’ll bring him in next.
Brittney Griner says she wishes Paul Whelan would accompany her on the flight back to the US.
Griner believes the trade to bring her back should have also included Whelan
“And when they closed the door, I thought, ‘You’re seriously not going to let this man come home right now?’
Griner was traded for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer nicknamed “the merchant of death.”
She says the US government should have pushed harder to try to get her and Whelan back.
“If that business was up to me, I would have gone to find Paul and brought him home,” Griner says.
“But any time we can bring home an American, it’s a victory for Americans. “No one should be left behind.”