Brittney Griner was a WNBA player who was detained for several months in Russian prisons for drug charges. CBS News received information from a U.S. official early Thursday that Brittney was freed in a one for one prisoner swap. According to sources familiar with this deal, President Biden gave final approval to the one-for-one swap agreement that was negotiated with Moscow in the recent weeks. CBS News first reported the swap on Thursday in United Arab Emirates.

CBS News was informed by five former U.S. officials that the agreement had been reached last Thursday.

According to a White House official, President Biden was at the Oval Office on Thursday morning, talking with Griner. Griner’s wife Cherelle Griner, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Griner were also present. Griner, as per the standard procedure for U.S. prisoners released on bail, was scheduled to undergo a quick medical evaluation.

At 8:30 AM Eastern, President Biden will speak at the White House on the prisoner swap which saw Brittney Griner freed. You can watch his remarks live on the player at the top.

She is safe. She is in a plane. She is on her return,” she said.

The president released Griner and ordered Bout to be returned to Russia. The commutation order, which reduced Bout’s 25 year federal sentence to 25 years, was signed by Mr. Biden.

Paul Whelan, a retired U.S. Marine, is being held in Russia as a result of the Griner-for–Bout exchange. Whelan has been held in Russian custody since almost four years. Whelan was convicted of espionage, which the U.S. called false.

Griner was taken into custody at a Russian airport on February 1st and later pleaded guilty.

Five months of stagnant diplomacy, various permutations and potential swap arrangements — including an offer by the U.S. to send two American prisoners back to Russia this summer — have ended. Sources say that the one-for-1 exchange was reached over the past two weeks.

Although it is not clear what caused the breakthrough, the Biden administration did make at least one concession when they agreed to reduce the swap to one American and one Russian.

The State Department lashed out at the Russian government over its failure to negotiate in good faith towards the end of November. On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that U.S. negotiators had “actively engaged” their Russian counterparts.

CBS News asked Blinken about Russian reports that Russia wants a one-for-1 swap despite America’s hopes of returning Whelan and Griner, but Blinken said that any agreement would need to be mutually agreed.

“The other side gets to vote in this. It’s more than what we want. It’s what they are prepared to do,” Blinken stated, while not denying Russian reports. He indicated that the administration would continue to push for both Americans’ return.

He said, “One way or the other, one day or the other, we’re going see that through.”

The Biden administration stated that it had made a “significant proposition” to the Kremlin in July for both American and Russian prisoners to be returned home. Although the White House did not confirm what the U.S. offered, officials privately indicated to CBS News that initial reports that Bout could be released were inaccurate and that the president was willing to allow two Russian prisoners to return to the U.S. in exchange for Whelan and Griner’s freedom.

Whelan was a former corporate security contractor and was visiting Moscow to attend a friend’s wedding. He was then detained in a hotel in December 2018. Whelan and the U.S. later sent him to 16 years imprisonment for espionage. This month marks Whelan’s fourth anniversary in Russian custody.

Bout was last held in Marion, Illinois at the federal prison. He was taken into custody by the Drug Enforcement Agency of Thailand in 2008, following a sting operation. Bout was convicted for conspiring to murder Americans. He began his 25 year sentence a decade earlier.

Before his arrest, Bout had been accused by the U.N. that he had armed Liberian President Charles Taylor during the civil war in Sierra Leone. He was the inspiration for Nicholas Cage’s character in “Lord of War.” Bout’s release will be criticized by some of the DEA agents that tracked him down and arrested.

Griner’s arrest occurred at the same time as Russia’s February unprovoked invasion in Ukraine. All U.S. relations with the Kremlin were complicated by this conflict. Whelan and Griner were both “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. officials suspect that Russia was using American prisoners as leverage.

Griner’s exchange for Bout marks Biden’s second prisoner trade with Russia. The U.S. exchanged Konstantin Yaroshenko (a Russian smuggler convicted for conspiring to import cocaine) for Trevor Reed in April. For nearly three years, the former U.S. Marine was held in Russia.

CBS News reported last Thursday that Griner-for–Bout was being considered, but it agreed to the White House’s request to suspend the reporting. Officials were concerned about the fragile nature of the deal.

Officials from the Biden administration warned that making the details of the swap public would almost certainly cause Russia to withdraw from the agreement, and could potentially put Griner in danger.