U.S. in constant contact with Russia on basketball player Griner's release - Biden

WASHINGTON. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Washington has yet to receive an affirmative reply from Moscow regarding the return of U.S. citizen Brittney Griner, incarcerated in Russia, to the home country, and such interaction is continuing, U.S. President Joe Biden said.

"We're in constant contact with Russian authorities to get Brittany and others out. So far we've not been meeting with much positive response but we're not stopping," Biden said in response to a journalist's question after getting another booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine.

On Tuesday, the Moscow Region Court upheld the sentence of nine years in a general penitentiary handed down to Griner on drug counts.

CNN said in the middle of September that the United States was seeing progress in the return of U.S. citizens Griner and Paul Whelan incarcerated in Russia to the home country. A high-ranking official from the U.S. administration told the television channel back then that some headway had been made in the effort towards the release of Griner and Whelan but it was not a breakthrough.

American officials repeatedly declared the intention to achieve Griner's release and return to the home country. Biden sent her a letter of support. The Western media said that the exchange of Griner and Whelan, a citizen of the United States and three other countries convicted of spying in Russia, for Russian citizen Viktor Bout was being discussed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no agreement between Russia and the United States to exchange Bout for Whelan and Griner just yet.