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.
\n\nThe 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.
\n\nWashington 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.
\n\nTrump 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.
\n\nThe 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.
\n\nUkraine brought forward new ideas and proposals at those talks, a U.S. official…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business