Sergey Lavrov

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a news conference, Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at the State Department in Washington. The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American Paul Whelan. That's according to Blinken, who also revealed that he had asked to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time in months in hopes of expediting an answer from Russia. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Secy. Blinken discusses prisoner swap with Russian foreign minister

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke with Russia’s foreign minister in an attempt to urge Moscow to accept the prisoner swap deal of detained Americans. Blinken said he and Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone Friday to negotiate the freedom of Brittney Griner and prior service Marine Paul Whelan.