US citizen Stephen Hubbard freed from Russian prison after Putin agrees to Trump request

independent.co.uk —

Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen, was released from a Russian prison after President Vladimir Putin agreed to free him at the request of President Donald Trump. He was preparing to fly home from St. Petersburg with US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Hubbard, a former schoolteacher, had been serving a nearly seven-year sentence on mercenary charges he denied. His release followed Witkoff's meeting with Putin to discuss proposals to end the war in Europe and resume trilateral peace talks. President Trump urged Ukraine to reach a settlement with Russia, citing Moscow's military size and momentum. Putin also expressed openness to restoring full economic relations with the United States amid deepening diplomatic engagement between the two nations.


With a significance score of 4.3, this news ranks in the top 5% of today's 32223 analyzed articles.

Get summaries of news with significance over 5.5 (usually ~10 stories per week). Read by 10,000+ subscribers: