Moscow unwilling to discuss Griner, Whelan release proposals, U.S. says

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

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has put forward "a series of proposals" to Russia for the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, but Moscow has not shown a willingness to engage in productive talks, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday.

Speaking at a White House briefing, Sullivan declined to discuss Griner's condition. Her lawyers said she was transferred last week from a detention center outside Moscow and was on her way to a penal colony to serve her jail sentence.