Efforts are being made to bring the basketball player back to the United States. There is a time limit.
Senior administration officials told The Associated Press that President Joe Biden will meet at the White House on Friday with the family of two people who are still in Russia.
Despite unsuccessful efforts by the administration to secure the Americans' release, separate meetings are being held between Biden and the families. There is no sign that a breakthrough is imminent despite the administration's claim that it had made a substantial proposal to get them home.
Biden is going to speak at the White House with the player's wife, Cherelle, as well as with the player's agent and with the player's sister.
The man has been held in Russia on drug related charges. She was sentenced to nine years in prison after she pleaded guilty. He and his family say the espionage charges are false.
Both of them were placed with the office of the top hostage negotiator in the U.S.
Friday's meetings are intended to underscore the administration's commitment to bringing home the Americans imprisoned abroad, as well as to connect with them on a human level as they undergo an experience that the Russian government has imposed on them.
Tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine have made negotiations difficult.
The secretary of state announced two months ago that the administration had made a proposal to Russia. One administration official said Thursday that the administration followed up in many ways to get serious negotiations going.
The Russians have come back with suggestions that are not within the administration's ability to deliver, despite the fact that the Russians have indicated that they are open to negotiations. The official said that the U.S. has been following up through the channels that led to the prisoner swap.
A person familiar with the matter previously confirmed that the administration had offered to release Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer currently imprisoned in the U.S.
Both families requested in-person meetings after Biden spoke by phone with them.
Each family has private time with the president, which is why the meetings are separate. The fact that the two cases are happening on the same day shows how intertwined they are.
Representatives of both families have expressed frustration over the lack of aggressive action from the administration.
The failure of a phone call from her wife that was supposed to have been patched through by the American embassy left the couple unable to connect on their fourth anniversary.
The focus on Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time NBA All-Star, has overshadowed the case of Whelan, his relatives fear. They were disappointed when it was not included in the prisoner swap that brought back Reed.
Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is on a trip to Russia. Ned Price, a State Department spokesman, said Wednesday that dialogue with Russia outside of the "established channel" is a problem.
There is no question that an encounter with the president can help establish a connection, even if a family doesn't get a meeting with the leader. Reed's parents met with Biden in the Oval Office after they stood outside the White House with a sign calling for his release.
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