US Embassy officials visit Brittney Griner in Russia prison

By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow have visited jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner, just weeks after a Russian court rejected her appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug possession. A State Department spokesman tweets that the American representatives “saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances” and says the U.S. is pushing for the immediate release of Griner and fellow American Paul Whelan. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are bogus. The White House says the U.S. has made “a significant offer” to resolve the cases but says there’s been “a lack of good faith negotiation by the Russians.”