Brittney Griner prisoner swap a rare diplomatic success between U.S. and Russia as war rages in Ukraine

The exchange of WNBA star Brittney Griner and arms dealer Viktor Bout was a rare moment of successful diplomacy between Moscow and Washington as relations between the two countries deteriorate over the war in Ukraine.

For many, the trade will evoke memories of Soviet-era spy swaps — a more positive reminder of that era than the nuclear standoff that President Joe Biden recently said left the world facing its most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Analysts said the fact that the Biden administration and the Kremlin were still able to carry out such talks was a notably positive sign as Russia and the West enter what many see as a new Cold War.

"I think what we’re seeing here ... is significant because it tells us that even in the depths of the conflict in Ukraine that the U.S. and Russia are, number one, still talking to each other about sensitive issues and, number two, still have the possibility of reaching agreements," Dr. Martin Smith, senior lecturer in the Department of Defence and International Affairs, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday before the prisoner swap was announced.