US citizen Stephen Hubbard freed by Russia as Trump envoy meets Putin
Russia released 74-year-old American Stephen Hubbard, a former teacher jailed for allegedly fighting for Ukraine, during a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday. President Donald Trump confirmed Hubbard was returning home without a prisoner swap. Hubbard, from Michigan, was sentenced to nearly seven years in a penal colony in 2024 after being captured by Russian forces in 2022. Trump said his release followed a direct request to Putin and defended suspending sanctions, claiming they would have halted negotiations. Hubbard, in poor health, was expected to fly to Texas for treatment. Witkoff praised Putin as a humanitarian and discussed proposals from talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including renewing trilateral peace negotiations. Putin did not comment on the proposals, having previously rejected freezing the front line. The meeting also covered a US-Russian diesel import deal, which has strained US-Ukraine relations.