Speaking to CNN, Biden insisted he had "no intention" of meeting Putin when leaders gather for next month’s G20 Summit in Indonesia but admitted he would be prepared to change that stance should Russia’s President request to talk about Griner.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison last month on drug possession charges after she entered the country with vape cannisters containing cannabis oil in February.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist pleaded guilty but denied knowingly breaking the law.

Her legal team is appealing the sentence, while the United States has opened negotiations over a prisoner swap to facilitate Griner’s release.

These negotiations are complicated by the war in Ukraine which the US is a strident critic of and has imposed harsh economic sanctions against Russia in response.

Biden, who met with Griner’s wife last month, revealed that a discussion over the release of the 31-year-old would be the only reason he would meet Putin.

"Look, I have no intention of meeting with him," said Biden.

"But, for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said, ‘I want to talk about the release of Griner,’ I would meet with him."

The US considers Griner, who claimed women’s basketball gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, "wrongly detained" by Russia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed in August that the country had sent Russia a "substantial proposal" widely reported to centre on exchanging convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is Russian, for Griner and Paul Whelan, a US citizen imprisoned in Russia, on espionage convictions.

Former US diplomat Bill Richardson travelled to Russia last month in a bid to secure the release of Griner.

Richardson told CNN that Griner and Whelan could be released by the end of the year, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic" over negotiations.