US made "substantial offer" to secure release of Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan: official

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John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, said Wednesday that the U.S. had made a "substantial offer" several weeks ago to secure the release of Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan and said they were waiting to hear from Moscow on whether the deal would be considered.

While Kirby said he would not provide more details on the deal to avoid negotiating in public, there have been reports that the U.S. had planned to trade convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner and Whelan.

Asked if there was a risk to announcing the deal, Kirby said it was "delicate work" to negotiate for someone's release. He said they felt given Griner's recent appearance at trial, it was an "appropriate time to talk about these efforts."