(Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and U.S. jails.
Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had made a “substantial offer” to obtain the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia.
A source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, jailed in the United States, as part of such a deal.
Lavrov told a news conference that talks on prisoner exchanges had been taking place since a summit in Geneva last year between presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.
He said a time for the call with Blinken was being worked out and he would listen to what his U.S. counterpart had to say.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
