Who Is Stephen Hubbard? 74-Year-Old American Released From Russian Detention

United States envoy Steve Witkoff, during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, confirmed on Wednesday that American citizen Stephen Hubbard has been released from Russian detention.

President Donald Trump said in social media posts that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to free Hubbard at his request, with “no 'swap' necessary”.

However, Trump also claimed that the release would not have happened if his administration had not halted new sanctions against Russia last week.

The announcement came as Trump administration officials, including Witkoff, held talks with Putin and other senior Russian officials in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

The discussions focused mainly on the war in Ukraine, along with other issues. Russian state news agencies, citing Putin, reported that Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, according to CBS News.

Witkoff acknowledged Putin for releasing Hubbard, "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian - you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that. I commend you," BBC reported.

Who Is Stephen Hubbard?

Hubbard, 74, is from Michigan. According to his sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, Hubbard earned a master’s degree in English and spent 25 years teaching the language in Japan. He later moved to Cyprus before settling in Izyum, eastern Ukraine, in 2014 with his Ukrainian partner.

Fox told Reuters that her brother lived on a pension of roughly $300 a month and had limited contact with local residents. She said they last spoke in September 2021.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and captured Izyum two months later. Ukrainian forces regained control of the city in September 2022, but Hubbard had already been taken into Russian custody by that time.

Removal Of US Sanctions From Russia

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would hold off on imposing fresh sanctions against Russia, warning that further restrictions could undermine efforts to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.

“I don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” Trump said.

Trump also defended his decision to suspend key sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia before they came into force. The move faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, with opponents accusing him of putting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests ahead of Ukraine’s.

According to Reuters, the waiver covered measures targeting Russian oil and gas under legislation Trump had signed the previous month.

Russian television footage showed Witkoff saying the diesel deal demonstrated to Ukraine what cooperation could achieve.

“Your decision to remove export controls on diesel oil from Russia, not just to the US but also to the world at large in the midst of an economic shock, I think that was really important that that happened,” he told Putin.

He added, “I know (President Trump) is deeply grateful for it.”