Russia released American citizen Stephen Hubbard on Wednesday after more than four years in Russian custody, following President Donald Trump’s direct request to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his release.
Hubbard, 74, a retired teacher from Michigan, was detained in Ukraine in April 2022 and sentenced in Russia in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.
Witkoff thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard during a meeting in St. Petersburg, telling the Russian president, “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir.” The remarks came as U.S. and Russian officials discussed the war in Ukraine.
Trump said people who had called for immediate sanctions against Russia had apologized after learning he was negotiating Hubbard’s release, saying that imposing sanctions would have halted the negotiations.
Also on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he would accept a peace deal that freezes the current frontlines, describing it as a realistic path toward ending the war with Russia:
“Yes. Right now we have to freeze, and I think this is a real way to end this war,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Fox News. He said Ukraine would then seek security guarantees from the United States and European countries, while rejecting the idea of surrendering the Donbas region to Russia.
