Brittney Griner Meets with U.S. Embassy Officials in Russia: 'This Continues to Be a Top Priority'

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Brittney Griner

Officials from the United States Embassy in Moscow visited incarcerated WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday, the White House announced.

"The State Department just confirmed that U.S. Embassy officials in Moscow were able to visit Brittney Griner today," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said aboard Air Force One.

Jean-Pierre said her team is told that Griner, 32, "is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances," after she was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison in August.

"As we have said before, the U.S. government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan," Jean-Pierre said.

NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Brittney Griner

The press secretary added that "despite a lack of good faith negotiations by the Russians," the United States government "has continued to follow up" on offers to exchange Whelan and Griner "in the subsequent weeks."

Jean-Pierre said that working out a deal with Russia "continues to be a top priority" and that the U.S. has proposed "alternative potential ways forward with Russia through all available channels."

RELATED: Brittney Griner Loses Appeal, Russian Court Upholds 9-Year Prison Sentence

State Department spokesperson Ned Price also confirmed Griner's visit with embassy personnel on Thursday. "They saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her current circumstances," Price wrote.

"We continue to press for the immediate release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan and fair treatment of every detained American."

Griner is running low on options as she starts on her nine-year prison sentence, especially after judges denied her appeal request at the end of October. After her appeal was rejected, lawyers for Griner told PEOPLE that she is "a very strong person" and "has a champion's character."

"She of course has her highs and lows as she is severely stressed being separated from her loved ones for over eight months."

RELATED: What to Know About Brittney Griner's Daily Life in a Russian Detention Center

However, the athlete's wife, Cherelle Griner, delivered an emotional speech during Glamour's Women of the Year Awards Tuesday night, where she said that Brittney is "100% not okay" in Russia.

"She is 100% not okay, and there is little I can do to ease her pain. But I believe from the bottom of my heart that while I can't bring her back, words can make a difference," Cherelle said.

She encouraged viewers to write their own letters of support to Brittney, via weareBG.org or by using the hashtag #WeAreBG, and read a message she had written for her wife to the audience.

Brittney Griner/Instagram

"Babe I'm missing everything about you. Especially your friendship," Cherelle began, before noting that she "took for granted being able to talk with" Brittney before the arrest.

RELATED: Cherelle Griner Asks People to Write Letters to Wife Brittney in Russia: 'She Is 100% Not Okay'

"I catch myself picking up my phone, only to sit it back down because your voice is the only voice I want to hear."

Cherelle continued: "I'll likely talk your ear off once you're home. I know your heart is heavy right now babe. I wish you were here to feel all the love that surrounds you. You are not forgotten. So, keep your head up champ. This too shall pass! I love you and I cannot wait for the day that I get to embrace you! Love, Relle."

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Brittney has been in Russian custody since she was arrested Feb. 17 at the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow, with Russian Federal Customs Service saying that the WNBA star was in possession of vape cartridges containing hash oil while traveling through the airport.