U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, on an unannounced visit to Moscow, secured the release on Tuesday of Marc Fogel, an American schoolteacher detained in Russia since August 2021, the White House said.
The development comes as Trump seeks to set the foundation for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end Moscow's three-year invasion of Ukraine.
"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," White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said.
Witkoff, who is Trump's chief Middle East envoy, quietly flew to Russia to pick up Fogel. Waltz said they were both leaving Russian airspace.
"By tonight, Marc Fogel will be on American soil and reunited with his family and loved ones thanks to President Trump’s leadership," Waltz said.
Trump has indicated he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has been vague on the details other than to say he is insistent on ending the three-year-old Ukraine war.
Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug smuggling after he was detained in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in August 2021 with 17 grams of marijuana - which he said he uses for medical reasons - in his luggage.
“We are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home," the Fogel family said in a statement.
Fogel was left out of a historic swap of prisoners last August that involved 24 prisoners - 16 sent from Russia to the West, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and eight sent back to Russia from the West.
"This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal," the Fogel family said.
The White House statement did not say if the United States gave up anything to secure Fogel's release.
