JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has freed another American from a Russian prison following a request from President Trump. Stephen Hubbard, who's a 74-year-old native of Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence in Russia after being convicted of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. His release came as White House Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Russia to discuss the latest U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine. NPR's Charles Maynes is on the line from Moscow. Hi there.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: Charles, if you could, just tell us more about Hubbard and how he ended up in a Russian prison.
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, Hubbard is a former school teacher who was detained by Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine in 2022. He'd moved there after marrying a Ukrainian woman. And after his capture, he was later sentenced in a closed trial to nearly seven years in prison, as you know, for fighting on behalf of Ukraine while in his 70s. The U.S. formally designated him wrongfully detained under the Biden administration. And amid concerns over his health and safety, the Trump White House made gaining his release a priority.
SUMMERS: Was this release a surprise, though?
MAYNES: Not really. President Trump had signaled negotiations for Hubbard's freedom were in the works in comments to journalists this week. But the reveal came during a visit today by White House Envoy Steve Witkoff to Saint Petersburg, Russia's former imperial capital, where he met with President Vladimir Putin. The reason was to discuss new proposals from the U.S. aimed at trying to find an end to the war in Ukraine. And yet, with cameras rolling during introductory remarks, Hubbard's case took center stage. Witkoff thanked Putin for arranging Hubbard's release. Putin confirmed the American was already at the airport, and then Witkoff added this.
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STEVE WITKOFF: You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir. And I salute that. I commend you, and I thank you again.
SUMMERS: I got to say, Charles, hearing Steve Witkoff describe Putin as a humanitarian - that is pretty striking.
MAYNES: Yeah. It's not the first time Witkoff has been publicly flattering Putin, but you can imagine how well that went over in Ukraine, given 4 1/2 years of war.
SUMMERS: And sticking with Hubbard for a minute here, do we know anything about his condition, how he's doing?
MAYNES: Well, state media issued footage of a smiling Hubbard shaking hands with Witkoff as the Kremlin's White House envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, looked on. Hubbard will, of course, need the full medical examination, but he seemed to look reasonably well. And Hubbard's family is happy. His son, who's an Orthodox priest named Father Joseph Coleman, thanked President Trump, as well as President Putin, for securing his father's release. And Hubbard's already on his way home.
SUMMERS: And, Charles, did the United States give up anything for Hubbard's return?
MAYNES: Well, President Trump, in a social media post celebrating the news of Hubbard's release, insisted, no. He said the U.S. hadn't given, quote, "anything in return." But, of course, Hubbard's release took place against this really extraordinary last two weeks during which Trump has made a series of gestures towards Russia and against Ukraine. He's agreed to buy previously sanctioned Russian diesel fuel. He's placed a waiver on a congressional sanctions package that he himself had signed into law. He's pressed Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil facilities and even called for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ouster.
SUMMERS: And the Trump administration, how do they explain those moves?
MAYNES: Well, Trump argues this engagement with Russia, you know, these deals are part of a wider plan to keep Moscow involved in the peace negotiations and that they're in the interest of American consumers as well. You know, and there's something to show for that. Putin announced that the first shipments of Russian diesel - 60,000 tons - would be heading to the U.S. in the next few days. And a Kremlin aide said Putin had agreed to resuscitate trilateral peace talks with the U.S. and Ukraine, something he'd been refusing to do. The question is whether that's just optics or there's something really new to discuss here.
SUMMERS: NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow, thank you.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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