Russia has traded US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the ‘Merchant of Death,’ in a prisoner swap.

The exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport on December 8, Russian news agencies reported.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday (US time) that Griner had been released and was in US custody.

“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” he tweeted.

Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had spokes by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, a US official said, adding that the call included Griner’s wife, Cherelle.

The White House released a photo of the telephone call.

Tweet from @POTUS

In a later address, Cherelle Griner said she would remain committed to getting every American home.

An earlier deal including Paul Whelen – an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage – had been narrowed to Griner, frustrating Justice Department officials who were always opposed to releasing Mr Bout, CNN reported.

White House officials briefed government agencies that the Russians would agree to swap only Griner for Mr Bout.

One US official said law enforcement officials raised strenuous objections and were told the decision had been made, CNN reported.

Griner, 32, a star of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on February 17.

Talks to secure her release were complicated by Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent deep souring of ties between the US and Russia.

A two-time Olympic gold medallist, Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia, were found in her luggage.

She was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in a penal colony on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs.

She had pleaded guilty but said she had made an “honest mistake” and had not meant to break the law.

In November, Griner was taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia to serve her prison sentence.

Mr Bout, 55, variously dubbed “the merchant of death” and “the sanctions buster” for his ability to get around arms embargoes, was one of the world’s most wanted men before his arrest.

In 2010, US 60 Minutes reported on how DEA agents captured the man dubbed the “Merchant of Death.”

For almost two decades, Mr Bout became the world’s most notorious arms dealer, selling weaponry to rogue states, rebel groups and murderous warlords in Africa, Asia and South America.