The double Olympic basketball champion was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a prisoner swap between to the two countries.

The pair were seen crossing on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

US President Joe Biden said that Griner was "in good spirits" and needed "time to recover" following the ordeal.

The 32-year-old was flown to San Antonio where she will be offered medical care after her release from the IK-2 penal colony in Mordovia before returning to her hometown Houston.

The city's Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the athlete will be welcomed back with a light show.

It is thought she will join the Department of Defense programme known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities), which is designed to help former detainees adapt back to normal life.

"Brittney has had to endure an unimaginable situation and we're thrilled that she is on her way home to her family and friends," National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver said.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February, a week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and handed a nine-year sentence after cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage.

She had been returning to play in the Russian Premier League for basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg during the off season of the Women's National Basketball Association competition in America where she plays for Phoenix Mercury.

Bout, nicknamed the "Merchant of Death", was serving a 25-year jail term, convicted on four counts of conspiracy to kill Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and providing material support to a terrorist organisation.

"The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland," the Moscow Foreign Ministry said in a statement, as reported by state-run news agency TASS.

American Paul Whelan remains imprisoned in Russia despite being involved in the initial swap discussions between the two Governments.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, expressed her "sincere gratitude" to Biden other officials for helping to get her partner back to the United States.