A group of Biden administration officials on Monday met virtually with the sister of Paul Whelan, whom Russian officials have jailed for four years on espionage charges that the U.S. government says are baseless.

What You Need To Know

  • A group of Biden administration officials on Monday met virtually with the sister of Paul Whelan, whom Russian officials have jailed for four years on espionage charges

  • The former U.S. Marine was not part of a deal that brought WNBA star Brittney Griner home from Russia last week

  • U.S. officials are also set to meet with Russians about Whelan later this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed

  • President Joe Biden said in a speech announcing Griner’s release that the U.S. would “never give up” on Whelan’s release

Staff from the National Security Council and State Department met with Elizabeth Whelan over Zoom, national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed at the White House, calling the conversations “substantive.”

Sullivan said the meetings were about what it’s going to take to “ultimately secure” Whelan’s freedom.

The former U.S. Marine was not part of a deal that brought WNBA star Brittney Griner home from Russia last week in exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

President Joe Biden said in a speech announcing Griner’s release that the U.S. would “never give up” on Whelan’s release.

U.S. officials are also set to meet with Russians about Whelan later this week, Sullivan confirmed, noting that those engagements with the Kremlin are ongoing.

“We believe that there are plays that we can continue to try to run, things that we have had in motion that we are still working on that could potentially lead to a positive result here,” the national security adviser said.

Sullivan did not go into more detail about the talks over Whelan, citing the sensitivity of the negotiations.

Yet he did say that the Russians were treating Whelan’s case “differently” from Griner’s, for “totally illegitimate reasons,” creating a greater challenge for U.S. officials.

Whelan last week told CNN he was disappointed that he was left out of the deal and more had not been done to secure his release. His family has expressed concern about his mental state and his health as he serves out a 16-year sentence, although the U.S. says the spying charges against him are illegitimate.

Another American, 61-year-old Marc Fogel, is detained in Russia on 2021 weed charges despite his being prescribed medical marijuana. His case, though similar to Griner's, has not garnered as much national attention.