The White House stressed that the meetings are not to deliver news that Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan are coming home, but instead to remind the families that they are still working on their release.
Families of Americans jailed in Russia hope a White House meeting on Friday could set the stage for their release.
Former United Nations Ambassador Bill Richardson made his own arrangements to meet with the Russian government to try and negotiate a release for Griner. The U.S. government regards both as wrongfully detained, placing their cases with the office of its top hostage negotiator. The administration has not provided specifics about its proposal, but a person familiar with the matter previously confirmed it had offered to release Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer who is imprisoned in the U.S. and who has long been sought by Moscow. It is also possible that, in the interests of symmetry, Russia might insist on having two of its citizens released from prison.
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