![]() Bout’s situation said the Russian government’s interest in his freedom appeared to be personal and that he has ties to powerful people close to President Vladimir V. Bout drew a mandatory federal minimum sentence of 25 years. The FARC’s official status at the time as a foreign terrorist organization meant that Mr. “He aimed to sell those weapons to terrorists for the purpose of killing Americans.” attorney for the Southern District of New York, said after his conviction. “Viktor Bout was ready to sell a weapons arsenal that would be the envy of some small countries,” Preet Bharara, then the U.S. Bout to buy weapons including 30,000 AK-47 rifles, plastic explosives and surface-to-air missiles for use against Colombia’s government and the American military personnel supporting its campaign against the FARC. In 2008, a pair of Drug Enforcement Administration agents posing as members of Colombia’s leftist FARC rebel group arranged a meeting in Bangkok with Mr. They were particularly alarmed by intelligence suggesting he may have done business with the Afghan Taliban and even Al Qaeda, charges he denies.Įventually, the United States lured Mr. ![]() Bout’s weapons shipments were not only fueling death and misery but also violating United Nations arms embargoes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the United States and European nations were sure that Mr. Bout’s pencil sketches and other artwork produced from his cell in a federal penitentiary building near Marion, Ill. In December, a government building in Moscow exhibited two dozen of Mr. Less obvious is the Russian government’s solidarity with an organized crime titan linked to terrorists and war criminals. Griner, a star athlete and basketball icon. Many people have expressed support for Ms. Reed’s failing health made his case exceptional. But White House officials stressed that Mr. The United States in return freed Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot sentenced in 2011 to 20 years in prison for drug smuggling. Marine from Texas who had been held since 2019 on charges of assaulting two police officers. Biden did agree to a prisoner exchange in April, in which Russia released Trevor Reed, a former U.S. ![]() Biden has said he plans to run for a second term, but at 79, his age has become an uncomfortable issue. But his low approval ratings could complicate his efforts to help Democrats in the midterm elections. On the Campaign Trail: Fresh off a series of legislative victories, Mr. Biden is back campaigning.Biden has taken pains to show that he understands that not all Republicans are what he calls extremist “MAGA Republicans.” A Tricky Message: Even as he condemns Trumpism, Mr.Defending Democracy: President Biden’s drive to buttress democracy at home and abroad has taken on more urgency by the persistent power of China, Russia and former President Donald J.The Biden Presidency With midterm elections approaching, here’s where President Biden stands. “My sense of this is that no American is going home unless Viktor Bout is sent home with them.” “It has been communicated to the American side very clearly that they’re going to have to get real on Viktor Bout if they expect any further prisoner exchanges,” Mr. Bout was a very high priority for the Russian government. Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, in June in Washington and that Mr. Bout, who was convicted in 2011 of offering to sell weapons, including antiaircraft missiles, to federal agents posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Bout’s New York-based lawyer, Steve Zissou, said in an interview that Russian officials are pressing to free Mr. Some, including the state-owned Tass news service, have even claimed that talks with Washington for a possible exchange are already underway, something that U.S. Bout’s case for years, and in recent weeks Russian media outlets have directly linked his case to Ms. Bout, 55, a former Soviet military officer who made a fortune in global arms trafficking before he was caught in a federal sting operation, could be the price for any deal. Griner’s trial started on Friday and was adjourned until next Thursday. Biden to “make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.” Last week, dozens of groups representing people of color, women and L.G.B.T.Q. Griner, who was arrested at a Moscow-area airport in February and whom the State Department classified in May as “wrongfully detained.” That reflects concern that the Kremlin considers her leverage in the tense confrontation between the United States and Russia over Ukraine.
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