Dec 10 (Reuters) – Viktor Bout, the arms dealer freed in a prisoner swap for US basketball star Brittney Griner, said he wished her good luck on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi where they exchanged
Bout, who spent 14 years in a US prison for arms trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy to kill Americans, was replaced on Thursday by the basketball star, jailed this year for carrying vape oil from cannabis when he got to play with a Russian team.
Russia’s FSB security service released footage of the two passing each other on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport during the exchange, although the video cuts out as they pass and there was no footage showing them interacting.
“I wished him luck, he even extended his hand,” Bout said in an interview with Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT on Saturday.
“Again, it’s our tradition. You should wish everyone good luck and happiness,” he said, adding that he believed Griner “was positively inclined” toward him.
Speaking to Maria Butina, who herself spent 14 months in a US prison for acting as an unregistered Russian agent and is now a lawmaker and RT anchor, Bout praised President Vladimir Putin, whose portrait he said had hung on the wall of his cell.
Asked about Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, Bout said he wished Moscow could have launched it sooner.
“If I had the opportunity and the necessary skills, I would join as a volunteer,” he said.
Griner has yet to speak publicly. His wife, Cherelle Griner, said Thursday that their family was now “complete” and that the couple would work to help secure the release of other Americans detained abroad, including former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, jailed in Russia on espionage charges he denies.
Reporting by Reuters Editing by Peter Graff
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.