Senior officials at the White House and State Department met virtually with Paul Whelan’s sister on Monday to brainstorm ways to spring the former U.S. Marine from custody in Russia, the White House said.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration met with Elizabeth Whelan via Zoom, after a prisoner exchange last week that swapped convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was detained in Russia for having cannabis-derived oil in her airport luggage.
The deal left Mr. Whelan in Russia on an espionage conviction that the U.S. considers bogus.