Rodman revealed days ago that he intended to travel to Russia to speak to Putin to ask for the basketball star’s release after he was jailed for drug possession earlier in the year. “I got permission to go to Russia to help this girl,” Rodman told NBC News on Monday (Aug. 22). He added: “I’m trying to go this week.” Rodman has now abandoned plans to visit Russia after being strongly advised by US officials to abandon the trip. Unless she’s part of a prisoner exchange, Brittney Griner will likely spend the next nine years behind bars. Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Stock Photo State Department spokesman Ned Price said that if the former NBA star went on his planned trip to visit Putin, then he “would not be traveling on behalf of the US government.” “We believe that anything other than further negotiations through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder these liberalization efforts,” Price said, according to the Daily Mail. Rodman has since abandoned the trip. Griner, 31, is currently behind bars after being arrested at a Russian airport in February for drug possession. Police found cannabis oil cartridges in her luggage, which have since been confirmed to contain less than a gram of THC. She was subsequently found guilty during a politically charged trial and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. The WNBA star has since languished in a prison that has been likened to the Soviet Union’s infamous gulag labor camps. Griner’s wife Cherelle spoke to CNN about the situation in July, revealing that her wife was forced into a “very, very, very tiny cage” for each five-hour trip to the court in Russia. Brittney Griner. Credit: Independent Photo Agency / Alamy “It’s really, really hard. This is not a situation where rhetoric matches action,” Cherelle began. He continued: “Unfortunately I have to push people to make sure the things they say to me also match their actions and so that’s been the hardest thing to balance because I can’t let go.” Rodman had hoped to negotiate Griner’s release with the Russian president, whom he had previously described as “cool”. Rodman previously claimed to have successfully negotiated the release of several American citizens held in North Korea, including Christian missionary Kenneth Bae, Time reports. Rodman was hoping to repeat his success in North Korea in Russia.
