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Russia has freed retired American schoolteacher Stephen Hubbard, 74, in a development that marks a notable shift in relations between Washington and Moscow. The release came as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, signaling a new phase in American diplomatic engagement with the Kremlin.
Putin confirmed during the meeting that Hubbard had already reached the airport. Witkoff publicly thanked the Russian leader for freeing him. Russian state news agencies aired both remarks.
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President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had personally appealed to Putin to release Hubbard. The former Michigan schoolteacher had been detained in Ukraine in 2022 on charges of fighting as a mercenary — charges he denied. He was the last American the U.S. State Department had formally designated as wrongfully detained in Russia.
Diplomatic Push Intensifies
The Witkoff-Putin meeting followed talks in Oslo, Norway, where American negotiators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders. Ukraine presented new ideas and proposals at those discussions. A U.S. official told NBC News that “meaningful progress” emerged from the Oslo talks as the Trump administration pushes harder for a peace deal.
Witkoff told Putin on Wednesday that the groundwork for ending the conflict had been laid. He also brought documents outlining possible approaches to a deal. In addition, he expressed hope that Putin would consider resuming trilateral talks involving all three parties.
Jared Kushner was expected to join the St. Petersburg meeting virtually. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev greeted Witkoff at the international airport outside the city.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Oslo talks as “positive” but said “nothing unexpected” came out of them. He added that Witkoff would carry the ideas from Oslo to the Russian side to see if further progress was possible.
Trump Pressures Kyiv While Tensions Persist
Trump has made clear he wants Ukraine to reach a settlement. “We want Zelenskyy to make a deal,” he told reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday. He also said the U.S. had given Ukraine significant support and received “nothing back except grief, death, tremendous monetary loss.”
His comments have fueled concern among allies that Washington is pulling back from its commitment to Ukraine’s defense. Critics at home and abroad have pushed back against Trump’s increasingly conciliatory approach toward Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has shown little flexibility. Putin has insisted that any meeting with Zelenskyy could only happen after a deal is finalized and must take place in Moscow — a condition Ukraine has rejected outright. Russia also continues to demand full control over Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Trump signed a diesel deal with Russia earlier this month and waived new sanctions on Moscow. Ukraine says it received no advance warning about at least three major Russian attacks. Kyiv also says restrictions on Elon Musk’s Starshield satellite service continue to hamper its aerial defenses and battlefield operations.
Rubio denied that the White House was responsible for any slowdown in Ukraine’s access to the satellite internet service. He said the matter was between Musk and SpaceX. However, Musk himself said last week that any decision on the service rested with Trump.
Zelenskyy Cites Progress on Intelligence Sharing
After meeting Witkoff in Oslo, Zelenskyy told reporters that recent problems in security cooperation with the U.S. had been resolved. “We are thankful that intelligence works now — I am speaking about early warning systems, which are very important for our people, for our children and civilians,” he said.
Zelenskyy also described a potential trilateral leaders’ summit as “one of the important ideas” raised in Oslo. The Oslo talks also included the leaders of Norway and Finland.
At the same time, deadly Russian strikes continued across Ukraine. At least nine civilians died in attacks on Wednesday as Moscow intensified its targeting of energy infrastructure ahead of winter. Separately, Russian authorities in the border Bryansk region reported that one person died in a Ukrainian strike on Wednesday.
