Blinken urges Russian foreign minister to accept proposal for swap of Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a "frank and direct conversation" about the "substantial proposal" that the U.S. has put forward in an attempt to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Blinken said Friday during a press conference. 

This is the first time the U.S. and Russian counterparts have spoken since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken said he pressed the Kremlin to accept the proposal. "I'm not going to characterize his response, and I can't give you an assessment of whether I think things are any more or less likely, but it was important that he heard directly from me on that."