Russia engaging in 'quiet' diplomacy with U.S. on Griner prisoner swap, official says

FILE PHOTO: sketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, sits inside a defendants' cage after the court's verdict in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool

(Reuters) -Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday it was engaged in "quiet diplomacy" with the United States regarding a potential prisoner swap that would include basketball star Brittney Griner.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia on drug charges on Aug. 4 in a ruling U.S. President Joe Biden called "unacceptable".