Trump Envoy Wins Release of American Teacher Held in Russia
By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 11 February 2025 02:55 PM EST
An American teacher imprisoned in Russia is on his way back to the United States Tuesday after his release was secured by President Donald Trump and following negotiations involving Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
The prisoner, Marc Fogel, was arrested on charges of bringing medical marijuana into Russia in August 2021 and began serving a 14-year prison sentence in June 2022, reports The New York Times.
Tuesday, after more than two years in a Russian prison, Fogel was released and flown out of Russia on Witkoff's private jet.
"President Trump, Steve Witkoff, and the President's advisers 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," National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said in a statement.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Donald-Trump-Vladimir-Putin/2025/02/11/id/1198685/