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Griner makes direct appeal to President Biden for freedom (2:10)

According to White House officials, President Joe Biden has read a letter from a woman. The time is 2:1.

6:46 PM ET

"I am grateful to the two of them for the time they spent with me and for the commitment they made," said Cherelle Griner in a statement.

Since her wife's arrest, Cherelle has been trying to get a meeting with the White House. A Moscow-area courtroom is expected to be the site of the trial on drug-smuggling charges. The hand-written letter was delivered to Biden on Monday, in which she wrote that she was terrified she might be stuck in Russia forever, and asked him to help bring her and other Americans home.

While I will remain concerned and outspoken until she is back home, I am hopeful that the President will read my wife's letter and take the time to respond. I am sure that she will find comfort in knowing that she has not been forgotten.

I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the fight. It means a lot to me and my family.

Our pain remains active until our loved ones are brought home, so please continue to pray for my family and all the other families of the wrongly imprisoned. Let's keep speaking the names of the Americans who have been wrongly imprisoned and support the Administration as they try to bring them home.

Legal and foreign policy experts have described the trial as theater as the U.S. and Russia discuss a possible prisoner swap. Sources close to her case said that she might plead guilty if she's found guilty.