OREANDA-NEWS "If we are talking about the exchange of prisoners, the exchange of persons who are being held in custody in Russia and the United States, then we have already commented on behalf of the Foreign Ministry that this issue was discussed more than a year ago at the Geneva meeting in June 2021 between Presidents [Vladimir] Putin and [Joe] Biden. There they agreed to authorize competent officials to deal with these issues.

The Foreign Ministry is not one of them. But still, I'll listen to what he [Blinken] has to say," Lavrov told reporters.CNN has reported that the Biden administration is offering to exchange Russian citizen Viktor Bout for US citizens Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner. On Thursday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US had requested a conversation between Blinken and Lavrov. Moscow, according to the US side, confirmed receipt of the request.