Brittney Griner All-Stars Brittney Griner, during the media day at Phoenix Mercury. Uscp 75fs9aqovsk1nhdf77xl Original

Talks continue between the U.S. and Russia over the potential release of WNBA star Brittney Griner. According to reports, the U.S. has made a legitimate offer to Russia to release Griner. However, a U.S. diplomat now says that Russia has not responded in a serious way as of yet.

Elizabeth Rood, the US chargée d’affaires in Moscow,  told Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency that the U.S. has made overtures to Russia but they are still waiting on a “serious response” from the country about Griner’s release.

“The United States, as we have said, has put a significant proposal on the table,” Rood said. “We have followed up on that proposal and we have proposed alternatives.”

“Unfortunately, so far the Russian Federation has not provided a serious response to those proposals.”

The U.S. and Russia have been in talks about a prisoner trade between the two countries that would have sent Griner home but, thus far, Russia appears not to have budged on the deal.

Griner is serving a nine-year prison sentence for possession of cannabis oil residue and was recently sent to a Russian prison camp where she hasn’t much if any contact with her family or the outside world.

Some who have spoken about these camps have said they provide terrible conditions and that they are like slave labor camps.

As the U.S. continues its fight to get Griner’s release, Griner’s family continues to wait for any possible good news as hopes continue to fade that she will be released soon.

{The Guardian}

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.