(WWJ) - It was a morning of relief and celebration as WNBA star Brittney Griner was freed in a one-for-one prisoner swap with Russia after her detainment by back in February, but it was also one of sadness and frustration for one American family still waiting for jailed Michigander, Paul Whelan, to finally come home.
There have been two prisoner swaps between the White House and the Kremlin in 2022, and both have failed to secure the release of Whelan, a Novi resident.
So what does this mean and happens now?
"The Kremlin has always demanded parity, you know, they would never give something more for what they received," Paul's brother, David Whelan, told WWJ's Jackie Paige and Jonathan Carlson Thursday morning shortly after news of Griner's release was made public. "So, I think there was never an expectation in our family anyway, that they were going to go for a two for one, exchange."
Russia agreed to release Griner on Thursday in a dramatic prisoner exchange, as the U.S. released notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the Associated Press reported.
But the deal fell short when it came to Paul. Thursday's prisoner swap comes months after the Biden administration offered the Kremlin a deal to secure the release of Griner and Paul.
David believes his brother's conviction is complicating negotiations for his freedom.
"I think what we're probably starting to learn is that there are the labels that they put on Paul, which is that he's a spy, and he's been charged with espionage and so on, may mean that they will only trade him for a spy," David explained. "Until the U.S. government is able to capture or get a hold of a Russian spy, I'm not sure what concession the U.S. government will be able to offer for Paul."
Paul was arrested in 2016 and convicted and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years for espionage charges - charges the former Marine and Michigander has adamantly denied and Russian officials have never presented evidence against him publicly.
Paul has served three and a half years of his sentence in a Russian labor camp.
Griner, meanwhile, arrested for possessing cannabis.
Recently, concern mounted for Paul after he hadn't been in touch with family members for over a week a the end of November, remaining uncharacteristically quiet over Thanksgiving, as well as his father's birthday.
Paul's lack of contact "deeply concerned" government officials and his family, but David said his brother was taken to a hospital, not for his health, but in an attempt to hide visits from officials.
"[Paul] was moved to a hospital not because he was ill, but because they are trying to hide recruiting that the Russian government is doing of prisoners that they're sending on to Ukraine," David said. "In a sort of fumble, they moved him from his prison colony to the prison hospital, but then the recruiters showed up in the prison hospital. So he knew about it."
David "absolutely" believes his brother is being used as a pawn and that Russia is waiting to offer him up to order to get what they want from the U.S. government.
"From day one, we knew that was the case," David added. "The only reason that he is in this situation is because the Russians have wanted to extort something from the U.S. government and we are waiting for them to finally put a price on Paul."
"Other Americans have been able to come home and that's great, but we haven't yet found a solution for how to get Paul out," David added.
David said his family was notified by the White House on Wednesday of Griner's release, allowing them at least a day to process that Paul would be once again left behind. He said that they are genuinely glad for Griner and hold on to hope that the same reunion will happen with Paul.
"There's nobody in America who should wish what has happened to Miss Griner and to my brother to happen to anybody and so for anybody to be freed, it's a great day," he said. "I'm so glad that she'll be back with her family and we'll continue to hope for Paul to be able to come back to his family and we'll see see what happens in the future."