Moscow said Wednesday that a Russian citizen jailed in the United States would be released as part of a prisoner exchange that saw the return this week of an American teacher detained in Russia.
“As we previously reported, there has recently been intensified work through the relevant agencies, with contacts taking place,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a daily press briefing.
“As a result of these efforts, Fogel has been released, along with a Russian citizen who is currently being held in a U.S. prison,” Peskov added, referring to Marc Fogel, an American who had been jailed in Russia since 2021 on drug charges.
In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump secured Fogel’s release as part of an “exchange.” However, it did not provide details about whether Washington or one of its allies had released someone in return.
“This Russian citizen is also set to return to Russia in the coming days,” Peskov said Wednesday, without identifying the individual or specifying when they were expected to arrive.
Trump greeted Fogel at the White House on Tuesday night after he landed back in the United States, recalling a meeting with Fogel’s elderly mother at a campaign rally where he had promised to “get him out.”
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, as well as other White House officials, had “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.”
Trump said a second U.S. detainee in Russia would be released Wednesday but did not provide further details.
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