US will ‘pursue’ prisoner swap for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan with Russia, Blinken says

The United States will “pursue” a prisoner swap with Russia for U.S. citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Cambodia Friday morning.

Blinken’s comment came as he was asked about remarks Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made regarding a potential prisoner swap at the foreign ministers meeting at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

“We put forward, as you know, a substantial proposal that Russia should engage with us on. And what Foreign Minister Lavrov said this morning and said publicly is that they are prepared to engage through channels we’ve established to do just that and we’ll be pursuing,” Blinken said during a press conference at ASEAN.