American Stephen Hubbard was released by Russia on Wednesday, state news agencies reported, the latest sign of warmer ties with the Kremlin as Washington pressures Kyiv to agree to a deal that ends Moscow’s war.The news of Hubbard’s release followed talks between U.S.envoy Steve Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin early Wednesday.
Putin said that Hubbard, 74, was at the Pulkovo Airport near St.Petersburg, the TASS state news agency reported.
There was no immediate confirmation from the United States.Washington has courted the Kremlin for weeks, and the release of Hubbard — a retired schoolteacher 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 Ukraine.Trump said Tuesday that he had raised with Putin the idea of releasing Hubbard, who was being held in Russia on charges he denies of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.The meeting in St.Petersburg, which Jared Kushner was expected to join virtually, comes after the American negotiators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
American teacher Stephen Hubbard in Moscow City court in 2024.Moscow City Court / via APUkraine brought forward new ideas and proposals at those talks, a U.S.official told NBC News, adding that “meaningful progress” was made as the Trump administration intensifies its peace push.Diplomacy has made little headway for months, and this renewed American effort has fueled backlash at home and abroad given a series of apparent moves to withhold support from Ukraine and align more closely with Russia.
Trump renewed his pressure campaign, which has fueled concern that the U.S.is no longer committed to Kyiv’s defense against its Moscow invaders.
“We want Zelenskyy to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.“We’ve given a lot to Ukraine.
We’ve gotten absolutely nothing back except grief, death, tremendous monetary ...