Russia frees retired American teacher as Trump envoy meets with Putin

Russia has released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard, 74, the latest sign of warmer ties between the two countries as Washington pressures Kyiv to agree to a deal to end Moscow’s war. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff lauded President Vladimir Putin for the release of Hubbard as he held peace talks with the Russian leader early Wednesday in St. Petersburg. “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir,” Witkoff said. The U.S. has courted the Kremlin for weeks, and the release of Hubbard — a Michigan native detained in Ukraine in 2022 — will give President Donald Trump a victory to tout after backlash at home and abroad for his tilt away from Kyiv in the conflict.

Trump hailed the news. “Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family. The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia,” he said in a post on Truth Social. Trump said that he had directly asked Putin in a phone call last week to release Hubbard, who was being held on charges he denies of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. He was the last American designated as wrongfully detained in Russia by the