Saudi Arabia did not mediate in Griner release, White House says

"There was no mediation involved." The United Arab Emirates president and Saudi crown prince said in a joint statement Thursday that they led mediation efforts that secured Griner's release from a Russian penal colony. Griner was exchanged for Viktor Bout, a onetime Russian weapons dealer who had been convicted in the United States and imprisoned for 10 years.

The release of basketball star player Brittney Griner was negotiated between the United States and Russia only, the White House said on Thursday, denying a Saudi Arabia statement that it was involved.

"The only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, when asked about Saudi Arabia's role. "There was no mediation involved." The United Arab Emirates president and Saudi crown prince said in a joint statement Thursday that they led mediation efforts that secured Griner's release from a Russian penal colony.

Griner was exchanged for Viktor Bout, a onetime Russian weapons dealer who had been convicted in the United States and imprisoned for 10 years. The exchange took place in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi airport, a U.S. official said. "We are grateful for the UAE ... for facilitating the use of their territory for the exchange to take place," Jean-Pierre said. "We are also grateful to other countries including Saudi Arabia" that raised the issue of detained Americans with the Russian government, she said.

Griner, 32, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport in February when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia, were found in her luggage. She was sentenced on Aug. 4 to nine years in a penal colony on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs.

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