Putin frees American Stephen Hubbard during Witkoff talks in St. Petersburg

Vladimir Putin announced the release of US captive Stephen Hubbard on Wednesday during his ninth round of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg.

Hubbard had been held on mercenary charges, which he denies, and was sentenced to seven years in prison at a closed trial in 2024. Putin said Hubbard was already at the airport; Witkoff confirmed he was "going home to his family."

Donald Trump said he had secured the release by asking Putin directly during a phone call last week. Trump posted on Truth Social that, out of respect for him, the United States "was not required to give anything in return" — describing this as an unprecedented situation for Russia. In a follow-up post, Trump also said he had suspended a new round of sanctions because, without that step, "those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt."

Witkoff told Putin he had brought written material consisting of "ideas" and "some sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine," which Putin could review at his leisure. The meeting came one day after Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo, talks that Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as "positive."

Putin proposed that Witkoff discuss restoring bilateral US-Russia ties and the possibility of trilateral talks with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Witkoff planned to return to Oslo for further consultations after St. Petersburg. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was willing to listen but did not expect any "miracle."