In a spectacular high-level prisoner exchange on Thursday, December 8, Russia released WNBA star Brittney Griner in return for the US releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to American officials. The swap, which occurred amid heightened tensions over Ukraine, has helped President Joe Biden achieve a significant milestone. 

Sources said Biden agreed to the one-for-one exchange with Moscow in recent weeks. The trade, first reported by CBS News, took place in the United Arab Emirates.

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According to a White House official, the president called Griner. The president was joined in the Oval Office by her wife Cherelle, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the call. Griner will undergo a medical evaluation as soon as she was released, which is the protocol for US prisoners who have been freed.

Biden tweeted a picture showing a smiling Cherelle, writing, "Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home."

On August 4, Russian courts sentenced Griner to nine years in prison after they found hashish oil in her bags. Bout was serving a 25-year jail sentence in the US after being convicted of conspiracy to kill citizens and officials in 2011.

Sources say the one-for-one exchange came together over the last two weeks after five months of stalled diplomacy and various permutations of potential swap arrangements, including a previously unreported offer by the US in summer to send two prisoners back to Russia in exchange for the two Americans. 

The swap, however, leaves American corporate security officer Paul Whelan's fate in the balance as he has been languishing in a Russian prison for what American authorities describe as "phony charges" for four years. According to CBS, Biden said, "We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan," adding that "we will never give up" on securing his release.