Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that his country is ready to discuss with Washington the exchange of prisoners, in the context of which a day ago in Russia basketball player Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison, Reuters reports.

“We are ready to discuss this topic, but in the direction agreed upon by Presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov said, according to a News.ro source.

“If the Americans decide to resort to public diplomacy again… that’s their business, and I would even say it’s their problem,” the Russian official added.

The Kremlin has previously warned the US against using “megaphone diplomacy” in the Griner case, saying it would only harm efforts to secure a possible exchange.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is likely to try to talk to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting in Cambodia, White House security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

Griner’s sentence, which Joe Biden called unacceptable, could pave the way for a prisoner swap involving the athlete and a Russian arms dealer.

The United States has already made what Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called a “substantial offer” to release Americans imprisoned in Russia, including the release of Greener and former Marine Paul Whelan.

Griner, a two-time Olympic champion and WNBA star, was arrested on February 17 at the Moscow airport, and cartridges for vaporizing hashish oil were found in her luggage.

Greener, who had a prescription for medical cannabis in the US to treat chronic pain, said he made the mistake of accidentally putting the vaping cartridges in his luggage when he was rushing to catch a plane. She pleaded guilty but insisted she had no intention of breaking Russian laws.