An American citizen imprisoned in Russia since 2021 arrived back in the US late on Tuesday.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff had secured the release of Marc Fogel, the White House announced on Tuesday. Fogel was arrested at a Moscow airport in 2021 and later sentenced to prison for drug smuggling.
The White House later posted a picture on its official X account of Fogel wrapped in a US flag walking off a plane.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump had promised the Fogel family he would bring Fogel home.
“Promises made, promises kept,” Rubio said in a statement.
“After three and a half years of detention in Russia, Marc is finally free. Marc’s release is also a reminder that other American citizens are still detained in Russia. President Trump is committed to bringing all of them home.”
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a statement that Trump, Witkoff – nominally Middle East envoy – and other advisers had negotiated an “exchange” with Moscow, which was a “show of good faith” on the part of the Russians.
This was seen as “a sign that we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine,” the statement added.
It is unclear exactly what the agreement looks like and who Witkoff spoke to in Russia.
According to the New York Times, Witkoff travelled to Moscow by private jet. This is the first known trip by a high-ranking US official to Moscow since November 2021 – a few months before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Fogel worked as a teacher and lived in Russia for several years before his arrest.