American Marc Fogel is pictured onboard a jet on his way back to the U.S. after being imprisoned in Russia for nearly 4 years.
The Guardian — A US teacher who has been held in Russia since 2021 has been released after a deal which Donald Trump said he hoped could mark the start of a renewed relationship with Moscow.
Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania schoolteacher sentenced in Russia to 14 years on drug-trafficking charges, was released on Tuesday following an unannounced visit to Moscow by Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are able to announce that Mr. Witkoff is leaving Russian airspace with Marc Fogel, an American who was detained by Russia,” Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, said in a statement.
In his statement, Waltz said that the US and Russia “negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine”.
Asked what the US had given in return for Fogel’s release, Trump later said: “Not much.”
He told reporters: “We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually. I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war.”
Previous negotiations have occasionally involved reciprocal releases of detainees and prisoners.
The deal was negotiated in secret, but rumors began circulating about Witkoff’s presence in Russia when his private jet was spotted landing in Moscow.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier in the day that he had “no information” about the reported arrival of Witkoff’s plane.
Fogel had worked as a teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow since 2012 and taught overseas in countries like Oman and Malaysia. He was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport after Russian officials found less than an ounce of marijuana in his luggage.
The surprise release of Fogel highlights the ongoing backchannel negotiations between the US and Russia and signals Putin’s intent to cultivate ties with the Trump administration ahead of expected peace talks over the war in Ukraine.
Marc Fogel’s sister just went on CNN and said that Trump told her mom right before he was shot in Butler, PA that he would bring her son home from Russian prison. — Source
[Karine Jean-Pierre]( refuses to say American teacher Marc Fogel serving 14 years in a maximum security Russian prison is "wrongfully detained" — Source
Karine and The U.S. government had declared Britteny Griner as wrongfully detained. Before initiating a prisoner swap with Viktor about, also known as the Merchant of Death. — Source
The Guardian — A US teacher who has been held in Russia since 2021 has been released after a deal which Donald Trump said he hoped could mark the start of a renewed relationship with Moscow.
Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania schoolteacher sentenced in Russia to 14 years on drug-trafficking charges, was released on Tuesday following an unannounced visit to Moscow by Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are able to announce that Mr. Witkoff is leaving Russian airspace with Marc Fogel, an American who was detained by Russia,” Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, said in a statement.
In his statement, Waltz said that the US and Russia “negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine”.
Asked what the US had given in return for Fogel’s release, Trump later said: “Not much.”
He told reporters: “We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually. I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war.”
Previous negotiations have occasionally involved reciprocal releases of detainees and prisoners.
The deal was negotiated in secret, but rumors began circulating about Witkoff’s presence in Russia when his private jet was spotted landing in Moscow.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier in the day that he had “no information” about the reported arrival of Witkoff’s plane.
Fogel had worked as a teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow since 2012 and taught overseas in countries like Oman and Malaysia. He was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport after Russian officials found less than an ounce of marijuana in his luggage.
The surprise release of Fogel highlights the ongoing backchannel negotiations between the US and Russia and signals Putin’s intent to cultivate ties with the Trump administration ahead of expected peace talks over the war in Ukraine.
Marc Fogel’s sister just went on CNN and said that Trump told her mom right before he was shot in Butler, PA that he would bring her son home from Russian prison. — Source
[Karine Jean-Pierre]( refuses to say American teacher Marc Fogel serving 14 years in a maximum security Russian prison is "wrongfully detained" — Source
Karine and The U.S. government had declared Britteny Griner as wrongfully detained. Before initiating a prisoner swap with Viktor about, also known as the Merchant of Death. — Source