After Secretary of State Anthony Blinken publicly acknowledged Washington's prisoner swap offer to Moscow, the trial of the American basketball player resumed in a Moscow area court on Tuesday.
A court room is being prepared for a hearing.
According to the Washington Post, a team of police officers escorted the basketball player to court.
According to the report, one of the expert witnesses in front of the court testified that the cannabis tests carried out on the device failed to meet legal requirements.
It's a jailable offense in Russia for someone to carry cannabis oil in their luggage.
The hearing was adjourned until Thursday after the testimony.
Last week, she testified for the first time in the case. She said she wasn't read her rights after being held at the airport. She said she was not offered an attorney and was forced to sign papers. The testimony added credence to the allegations that Griner was targeted by the Russian government because he was American.
The Kremlin was surprised that back channel prisoner swap talks between Washington and Moscow had been made public. No deals have been finalized as of yet, and any negotiations between the countries should be kept private. A day later, he spoke with the Russian foreign minister and urged him to accept the deal. As part of the deal, the U.S. offered to exchange notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year jail sentence in the U.S., for the release of two Russians who have been jailed by Russia on espionage charges. The Merchant of Death, as he is known, supplied millions of Soviet-era weapons and equipment to militias and terror groups across the world.
The need for discretion in prisoner swap talks between the U.S. and Russia was once again emphasized by Peskov.
There are hopes of a prisoner swap.
There is a push for Russia to accept a substantial offer.
Russia swaps a prisoner for someone else.
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