White House officials insist they’ve done everything possible to get 32-year-old WNBA star Brittney Griner out of a Russian penal colony. Government officials are under gag orders to not rock the boat with Russian officials by broadcasting hostage negotiations or a so-called prisoner swap too loudly. But the country has grown frustrated with 80-year-old President Joe Biden for creating conditions that make deal-making next to impossible with Russian officials. Biden decided to fight a proxy war against the Kremlin using Ukrainian troops, reversing decades to practical diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. Most media outlets completely ignore the fact that Biden chooses proxy war with the Russian Federation under the guise of defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. No one told Biden, in defending Ukraine, he had to go to war with Moscow.
Griner’s odyssey started Feb. 17 arriving at Moscow’s Sheremeytevo Airport where she arrived to play a $1 million contract UMCC Ekaterinburg womens’ basketball team. Only problem, Moscow police found cannabis-laced vape-cartridges in her luggage, promptly arresting Brittney for violating Russia’s strict drug laws, starting trial July 1 in Moscow. On Aug. 4 Brittney was convicted on all charges, promptly filing an appeal with her Moscow attorneys. Brittney’s appeal was rejected Oct. 25, prompting the court to ship Brittney to a K-2 penal colony, a Stalin-era work camp, characterized by 17-hours of hard labor. So, the situation for Bittney Griner is indeed dire, requiring Biden to take more concrete steps to assure her release. Biden has done nothing when it comes to his proxy war against the Russian Federation. How can Biden expect progress on Griner without ending the Ukraine War?
Griner’s spouse Cherelle has met with Biden and White House officials only to be told the same thing, that everything that can be done to get Brittney our is being done. But as long as Biden continues his proxy war against the Kremlin, how can he think 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin would negotiate in good faith. Where’s the good faith when the stated goal of the U.S. government is to weaken the Russian military and topple Putin’s government? Biden’s been given many chances to move the Ukraine War from the battlefield to the peace table, something Putin has asked for on numerous occasions. Biden has pressed ahead with the war because Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Violodymer Zelensly has set unrealistic conditions for any ceasefire and peace talks. Zelensky wants Putin to withdraw all Russian troops from Ukraine, including his troops in the Crimean Peninsula.
Much has been made in the U.S. press about Griner’s sexual orientation, an avowed lesbian. But no matter what Griner’s sexual orientation, it has little to do with why negations for her release haven’t gone well. U.S. diplomatic relations with Moscow are at the lowest level since WW II. Never before in history has the U.S. gone to war with the Soviet Union or Russian Federation. What was Biden thinking would happen to U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations if he went to war against Moscow? Ukraine never had any national security significance to the United States. Yet Biden chose to got to war against the Kremlin to help Kiev resolve its border dispute with the Russian Federation. All the practical, cooperative relations with Russia, built over decades of U.S. diplomacy, was destroyed by Biden. If he wants to get Brittney Griner out of prison, Biden needs to do more than strike a better prisoner swap.
U.S. press applies zero pressure on Biden to end the nine-month old Ukraine War that’s done more damage to U.S.-Russian relations than any event in U.S. history. U.S. lawmakers have bought into Biden’s claptrap about protecting democracy in Europe. Putin has showed no evidence that he plans to move on from Ukraine to other European countries, including former Soviet satellites. Brittney’s only chance of getting out is if Biden tells Zelensky it’s time to move to the peace table. U.S. officials can then signal to Moscow that it’s stopping the proxy war against the Kremlin. Once that happens, the sky is the limit about improving cooperative relations with Moscow. White House officials know that as long as the U.S. remains at war with the Kremlin, there’s zero incentive to cut a deal to get Brittney out. Biden can’t think Putin will negotiate as prisoner swap until the proxy war ends.
Western officials and press can only imagine the torture Brittney goes trough in one of Russia’s most notorious women’s penal colonies. There’s nothing so important about the Ukraine War for Biden not to move the conflict to the peace table, stopping his proxy war against the Kremlin. Putin will be in different mood when he knows that the White House has ended its proxy war. U.S.-Russian relations are far more important to U.S. national security than any relationship to Kiev. U.S. wants Kiev to resolve its conflict with Russia but must realize the business of diplomacy with Russia goes on with or without Ukraine. Biden must give up his fantasy of vanquishing the Russian military and get back to pragmatic diplomacy with Moscow. Once Biden restores normal diplomatic relations, obstacles to cutting a prisoner swap deal should be removed but not until the Ukraine War ends.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
