A Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death" who returned to his homeland as part of a swap for a basketball star has blasted the West.
Viktor Bout returned to Russia after 14 years in a US prison as part of an exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Bout provided arms for some of the world's worst conflicts and in Russia was seen as unjustly imprisoned after a US sting operation.
Russian state media has celebrated his release, carrying footage of him talking to his family from a private jet after a swap at Abu Dhabi's airport.
He was then seem embracing his wife and his mother on a snowy tarmac in Moscow.
In an interview for RT channel with Maria Butina, who also served 18 months in a US prison after being convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the United States, Bout said he was still struggling to control his emotions after his imprisonment.
He inisisted the West's long-held objective was to destroy Russia.
Bout said: "The West believes that it has failed to finish us off when the Soviet Union began to collapse.
"And our efforts to live independently, be an independent power is a shock to them."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the swap was agreed between Russian and US intelligence agencies and contacts were held exclusively to hammer out its specifics.
In televised remarks, he said: "It has no impact on the overall state of bilateral ties that looks sad,"
Despite negotiating the swap for Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist the US failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan.
Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges, But his family and the US government say are "baseless".
US officials did not see an immediate path to bringing about Whelan's release and said Russia has treated his case differently because of the "sham espionage" charges against him.
They said, however, they believe communication channels with the Russians remain open for negotiations on his freedom.
Peskov said: "Special services may continue their work if necessary," while highlighting the role of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in negotiating the swap.
The Mirror reported the swap yesterday at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden, but carried a heavy price.
Biden's authorisation to release a Russian felon underscored the escalating pressure his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case and her transfer to a penal colony.
The swap was confirmed by US officials who were not authorised to publicly discuss the deal before a White House announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad.
The US had also hoped to arrange the release of another American jailed for almost four years.
Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose months-long imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.
Biden spoke with Griner on the phone Thursday while her wife, Cherelle, was in the Oval Office.
The president addressed reporters later in the day.
