The United States on Thursday assured allies including Ukraine that the deal to secure the release of basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison was “targeted” and did not involve talks on broader disputes.
“These were very targeted, very focused negotiations,” a senior US official told reporters.
“We have briefed key partners, including Ukrainians, on this result, that they too understood this was about one thing and one thing alone — solving a wrongful detention case and that there are many other issues we have not broached with the Russians and would not broach with them out of synch,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
