Pentagon Has Concerns About Exchange Of Griner For Russian Businessman Bout - Reports

Pentagon Has Concerns About Exchange of Griner for Russian Businessman Bout - Reports

The Pentagon has some concerns about the Biden administration's decision to exchange Russian businessman Viktor Bout for US basketball player Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap, CNN reported on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2022) The Pentagon has some concerns about the Biden administration's decision to exchange Russian businessman Viktor Bout for US basketball player Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap, CNN reported on Friday.

"I think there is a concern that he (Bout) would return to doing the same kind of work that he's done in the past," a senior defense official is quoted as saying in the report.

On Thursday, the United States exchanged Bout for Griner, who was serving a nine-year sentence in Russia for illegally bringing cannabis oil into the country. Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in the US on arms dealing charges.

Bout, alleged to have been involved in arms trafficking during the 1990s and early 2000s, was convicted of conspiring to provide arms to a Colombian rebel group as part of a US sting operation.

The US will work with partners in Africa, where Bout is alleged to have been engaged in the arms trade, to understand the current risk factors of the weapons market and the threats of people and organizations with whom they may be working, the senior defense official also reportedly said.