She went Russia to play off-season basketball where she was arrested near Moscow airport on Feb 17 for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which were banned in Russia, and was convicted for criminal drug possession and sentenced for 9 years of prison. According to Britney, she had made an u201chonest mistakeu201d and had not meant to break the law.
On the other hand ,Victor Bout, 55, was one of the worldu2019s most wanted men before his arrest, and was famously dubbed as u201cthe merchant of deathu201d for his ability to get around arms embargoes .For almost two decades, Bout was the worldu2019s most notorious arms dealer, selling weapons to rogue states, rebel groups and murderous warlords of various countries in Africa, Asia and South America. For experts on the Russian security services, Russia’s long lived interest in Bout was due to his ties with their intelligence.
Talks to secure Britney’s release were complicated by Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24 and the following deep souring of relations between Washington and Moscow. This swap was one of the most high-profile and rare examples of cooperation between the US and Russia since the invasion started.In this trade, Russia was able to acquire the better part of the deal as Bout can bolster Russia’s position in it’s invasion on Ukraine. Bout is a man of great importance to the Russian Elite.After the trade was completed, President Biden urged all the Americans to take precautions before travelling overseas, and warned of the risk of being wrongfully detained by a foreign government. Do you guys feel this exchange could further degrade Moscow and Washington’s relation? Comment
