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Pieces of local art. you are live with bbc news. ijust want to bring you a small manner breaking news we getting on here from news agencies and that is that the us ambassador russia is visiting the us ambassador russia is visiting the imprisoned ex—marine paul whelan. that linejust the imprisoned ex—marine paul whelan. that line just coming through in the last few minutes. mr whelan's who is 52, was given a 16 yearjail whelan's who is 52, was given a 16 year jail sentence whelan's who is 52, was given a 16 yearjail sentence back in 2020 after being arrested in moscow on suspicion of spying...

There are other names as well. alexandra venegas a name that has also come up. he is a man who was incarcerated in the u.s. in august after he was extradited. he is there on charges of hacking and money laundering and extortion. he could be a possible swab. but the russians of also made very clear to the state department that they want a like for a like, a spy for a spy. and enigma not that criteria. but it is kind of hypocritical of them, cause you are not going to get to more polar opposites than griner and, griner a two-time olympic gold medalist, one of the greatest nba but player players,...

State video capturing the high stakes prisoner swap that secured her freedom. griner in a red jacket, her hair noticeably shorter, escorted toward an american aircraft as the man she say exchanged for, russian arms dealer viktor bout was embraced by his russian handlers. president biden this morning moments after speaking to griner by telephone tweeting she is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home. a moment of celebration for her family, friends, and fans but shadowed by the fact the administration was not able to negotiate the release of american paul whelan who the white house says...

Being wrongfully detained. >> over the last nine months, y'all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life, and so today, i'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion that i have right now is just sincere gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. it's just a happy day for me and my family, so, i'm going to smile right now. thank you. >> well, brittney griner's return is a happy there. there is another side of this story that can't be ignored. american paul whelan is still in russian custody. he has been there for four years...

That. so what comes next for paul whelan? >> that is a good question. the administration has said that they will continue to press for the release both of paul and other americans who are detained in russia, including brittney griner. the u.s. ambassador to russia john sullivan was on our air yesterday and said that he has had vow indicated for paul's release since he was detained in late 2018. on he called ro reed's release a first step in the process and he will continue to advocate for whelan's release. but it does remain the case that prisoner swaps are rare and this is how trevor reed was...