President Joe Biden met with Cherelle Griner at the White House last month. He also sat down with Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of Paul Whelan, another American currently imprisoned in Russia. The Biden administration said in July that it had made a "substantial proposal" to get them home. The administration has not provided specifics about its proposal, but a person familiar with the matter previously confirmed it had offered to release Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the U.S.
Cherelle Griner said the president is "doing what he can, but there's another party in this situation." She said it's going to take Russian President Vladimir Putin changing his mindset.
Though Brittney Griner was arrested in February - amid escalated tensions because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- the couple did not speak on the phone until August. Cherelle Griner said the first conversation was "just so delightful" and felt optimistic that her wife would survive the ordeal. But the second conversation, she said, "was the most disturbing phone call I've ever experienced."
"You could hear that she was not OK," Cherelle Griner said.