Russia demanded that a spy held in Germany be freed in exchange for Paul Whelan - CNN

CNN  — 

Russia refused to merchandise Paul Whelan alongside Brittney Griner unless a erstwhile colonel from Russia’s home spy enactment presently successful German custody was besides released arsenic portion of immoderate captive swap, US officials told CNN, adjacent arsenic the US offered up the names of respective different Russian prisoners successful US custody that they would beryllium consenting to trade.

The US was incapable to present connected the petition for the ex-colonel, Vadim Krasikov, due to the fact that helium is serving retired a beingness condemnation for execution successful Germany.

CNN archetypal reported exclusively successful August that the Russians had requested that Krasikov beryllium released on with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trader who was serving a 25-year condemnation successful the US, successful speech for Whelan and Griner.

US officials made quiescent inquiries to the Germans astir whether they mightiness beryllium consenting to see Krasikov successful the trade, a elder German authorities root told CNN earlier this year. But ultimately, the US was not capable to unafraid Krasikov’s release. The German authorities was not consenting to earnestly see including Krasikov –who assassinated a Georgian national successful wide daylight successful Berlin successful 2019 – successful a imaginable trade, the German root said.

The US made respective different offers to the Russians, sources said, to effort to get them to hold to see Whelan successful the swap. Among the names floated by the US was Alexander Vinnik, a Russian nationalist extradited to the US successful August connected allegations of wealth laundering, hacking and extortion. The US besides offered to commercialized Roman Seleznev, a convicted Russian cyber-criminal presently serving a 14-year condemnation successful the US, sources said.

A lawyer for Seleznev did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. Frédéric Bélot, a lawyer who represented Vinnik successful France earlier his extradition to the US, told CNN connected Friday that helium was not alert of immoderate existent discussions betwixt Moscow and Washington implicit including Vinnik successful a imaginable captive swap.

But Bélot said helium could spot Vinnik being portion of captive swap negotiations successful the future.

“They [Vinnik and Whelan] marque portion of the imaginable ‘candidates’ for the adjacent swap,” Bélot said successful a substance connection to CNN.

Since Vinnik’s extradition to the US successful August, Bélot has appealed straight to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to assistance unafraid Vinnik’s merchandise from US custody.

But ultimately, the Russians indicated they would lone beryllium consenting to commercialized idiosyncratic they considered to beryllium a spy – Whelan, who was convicted connected espionage charges successful 2019 – for 1 of Russia’s ain spies: Krasikov.

The National Security Council declined to comment. A elder Biden medication authoritative acknowledged to CNN connected Thursday nighttime that the Russian broadside had repeatedly demanded idiosyncratic not adjacent successful US custody, adjacent arsenic the US made a fig of antithetic proposals. In the end, the Russians kept asking for the aforesaid happening that the US could simply not present on, the authoritative said

“We person shown an openness to speech astir that which is really disposable to america and gotten lone successful effect a request for thing not disposable to us,” the authoritative said, reiterating that the Russians refused what had been offered to unafraid the merchandise of Whelan.