Putin Orders Release of Jailed American as He Meets Trump's Envoy for Ukraine Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the release of a jailed American on the same day he met Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg for fresh talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Amid increasingly close relations between Moscow and Washington, the release is being seen as a diplomatic move.

The man released is Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old former teacher who had spent more than four years in Russian jails on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.

Trump had previously asked Putin to free Hubbard. This release was not part of a prisoner exchange; Russia freed him unilaterally, unlike many previous releases of Americans held in the country, which were swaps.

Writing on social media after the release was announced, Trump said it followed a request he had made directly to Putin last week. On Truth Social he wrote that, out of respect for President Trump, the United States was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia, with no 'swap' necessary.

During their meeting at the grand Constantine Palace in St Petersburg, Witkoff praised Putin and described the Russian president as a humanitarian. He said Trump is talked about as a humanitarian, that Putin is a humanitarian also, and that he salutes that. He also conveyed Trump's thanks for a controversial deal to resume Russian diesel exports to the US.

The warmth of Witkoff's remarks stood in stark contrast to the increasingly hostile rhetoric directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by senior US officials, most notably Trump, who has called for Zelenskyy to resign and portrayed him as the main obstacle to peace.

Witkoff travelled to Russia from Oslo, where he had met Zelenskyy and European leaders a day earlier in an attempt to inject momentum into stalled negotiations, with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fifth year.

In a televised portion of the meeting, Witkoff told Putin they had brought some papers — ideas for a sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine — for Putin to read at his leisure. The visit was Witkoff's ninth to Russia since Trump tasked him with brokering an end to the war.

The latest rupture between Washington and Kyiv was triggered by Trump's surprise decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel as part of a deal with Putin, followed by his call for Zelenskyy to be replaced after Ukraine refused to halt its strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Kyiv has since complained of disruptions to US intelligence-sharing and restrictions on its access to Starshield, the military-grade version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network. Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Washington had resumed providing advance warnings of Russian missile attacks after his meeting with Witkoff in Oslo.

Ukraine continues to face restrictions on Starshield, although it remains unclear who ordered them. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk had personally ordered the slowdown, while Reuters, citing sources, said the directive had come from inside the White House.

Hubbard's release could be presented as a diplomatic victory for Trump before the midterm elections. It has also been described as Moscow's calculated move to bring Trump further into line with Putin's position on Ukraine. The peace-deal papers are now with Putin; the next steps will be determined from there.