WaPo reports:

WASHINGTON — The White House began deliberating a spy swap with Moscow nearly a month ago, well ahead of the arrests of 10 Russians in the United States less than two weeks ago, a White House official said Friday.
In the course of the following negotiations with Moscow, the United States put forward the names of the four people who were released by Russia on Friday as their part of the bargain, the official said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
The swap took place Friday in Vienna. The official said all of the children of the Russian spies had left the United States for Russia or were in the process of leaving.
[. . .]
In early June, a decision was made to take action against the Russians and on June 11, a Friday, President Barack Obama was briefed on the matter in the Oval Office. He was told about plans for the arrests, how they would occur, what the Russians would be charged with and the possible impact of the case on U.S.-Russian relations, the official said. That’s when the idea of a swap was raised, in a list of options.

The actual terms of the swap were negotiated between CIA Director Leon Panetta and FIS chief Mikhail Fradkov.

Full story here.