Russia and United States will keep discussing prisoner swaps - deputy foreign minister

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday that Russia and the United States will continue to talk about possible prisoner swaps directly, without intermediaries, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

On Thursday, the United States freed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been jailed in Russia.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Washington remains committed to also securing the return of imprisoned former marine Paul Whelan from Russia.