Swapping Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan: Did Moscow Already Get the Man It Wanted?
When Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week said that Washington had offered to swap prisoners with Moscow, the deal seemed obvious. The U.S. would release Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for imprisoned Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. But Moscow, which previously has pressed for its arms dealer, has remained mostly silent …