Dennis Rodman is flexing his diplomacy skills once again. Rodman is planning to travel to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin to ask for WNBA star Britney Griner’s release from prison.
“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman, 61, told NBC News in Washington DC on Saturday. “I’m trying to go this week.”
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The former NBA star says he knows the Russian president “too well.”
Griner, 31, was recently sentenced to serve 9 years in prison for smuggling cannabis oil into Russia in mid-February.
Attorneys for Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, filed an appeal of her prison sentence.
Griner is pictured leaving a Russian court after her sentencing on August 4.
According to the New York Post, it isn’t clear who gave Rodman permission to travel to Russian.
An approved visa is required to enter Russia. The US State Department issued a travel advisory warning Americans not to travel to Russia, which is at war with Ukraine.
Rodman is credited with helping to prevent World War III by traveling to North Korea to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left).
Rodman helped secure the release of American prisoner Kenneth Bae from North Korea in 2014.
