Freed Russian Arms Dealer Takes Vicious Swipe at West in First Interview Since Exchange
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who returned to his homeland after 14 years in a U.S. prison as part of a swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner, said the West is bent on destroying Russia.
Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death” who provided arms for some of the world’s worst conflicts, was seen in Russia as unjustly imprisoned after an overly aggressive U.S. sting operation.
The Russian state media hailed his release, carrying footage of him talking to his family from a private jet following a swap at Abu Dhabi’s airport and then embracing his wife and mother on a snowy tarmac in Moscow.
Speaking with RT Channel in his first interview, with Maria Butina, who served 18 months in a U.S. prison after being convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the United States, Bout said he still was struggling to control his emotions after his imprisonment.
Bout, who had been sentenced to 25 years behind bars, said the West’s long-held objective was to destroy Russia.
“The West believes that it has failed to finish us off when the Soviet Union began to collapse,” Bout said. “And our efforts to live independently, be an independent power, is a shock to them.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the swap was agreed to between Russian and U.S. intelligence agencies, and that contacts were held exclusively to hammer out its specifics.
“It has no impact on the overall state of bilateral ties that looks sad,” Peskov said in televised remarks.
Despite negotiating the swap for Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the most high-profile American jailed abroad, the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan.
Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have said are baseless.
U.S. officials said they did not see an immediate path to bringing about Whelan’s release, saying Russia has treated his case differently because of the “sham espionage” charges against him.
Still, they said they believe communication channels with the Russians remain open for negotiations about his freedom.
Peskov said “special services may continue their work if necessary,” and also noted the role of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in helping broker the swap.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said more U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges are possible.
Putin spoke Friday, a day after Bout was traded for Griner.
Asked whether other prisoners could be swapped, Putin replied that “everything is possible,” noting that “compromises have been found” to clear Thursday’s exchange of Griner for Bout.
“We aren’t refusing to continue this work in the future,” Putin said.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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