The official who brought Brittney Griner back to the U.S. spoke with Paul Whelan just hours after landing in Texas with Griner. 'I said, 'Paul, it was one or nothing, we were not going to be able to get you out. We're going to keep working on it.''
"I landed at 4:30 in the morning, and at 9:30, Paul called from the penal colony in Russia. I explained to him, I said, 'Paul, it was one or nothing, we were not going to be able to get you out. We're going to keep working on it, but I understand you're a little frustrated with that," Carstens told"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts.
Whelan, a former Marine, has spent about four years in detention since he was seized in 2018 by Russia's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, while visiting Moscow for a friend's wedding. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges but the U.S. and his family say that they were fabricated in order to take him as a political bargaining chip.
PHOTO: Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, June 15, 2020. MORE: Griner 'in very good spirits' but US isn't doing 'backflips' over freeing Russian arms dealer: Kirby "She said, 'Look, I've been listening to Russian for ten months. I want to speak English, I want to chat with people,'" Carstens said."And then as I tried to point her to her seat, she just walked past me and went right to the crew and started introducing herself to the crew members. And also, I watched her and she connected with everyone, looked in their eyes, shook hands, got to know their names, and only when that was all done she went back.
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