US citizen Stephen Hubbard freed by Russia as Trump envoy meets Putin

Russia has released a 74-year-old American citizen who was jailed for allegedly fighting on behalf of Ukraine, as President Vladimir Putin met US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg for talks.

Stephen Hubbard has been taken to Pulkovo Airport, Putin said during the meeting early on Wednesday, according to Russian state media.

President Donald Trump later said the former teacher was "on his way back home" and "there was no 'swap' necessary".

Hubbard was sentenced to almost seven years in a penal colony in 2024. He was accused of serving in a defence unit in the eastern city of Izyum when he was captured by Russian forces, shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

Writing on social media after Russian state media reported the release, Trump said it had followed a request he "made directly" to Putin last week.

Some other releases of detained Americans from Russia have been obtained through prisoner swaps.

The US State Department had previously classified Hubbard, from Michigan, as "wrongfully detained" and the US president had suggested on Tuesday that his release may be imminent.

"Watch what happens," Trump told reporters, "we have been focused ⁠on ​Hubbard".

CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, reported that Hubbard had been in poor health and was expected to be flown to Texas for treatment.

Russian state media reported that Witkoff had thanked Putin for Hubbard's release and, on Trump's behalf, for the deal struck with Washington earlier this month to import Russian diesel.

The first shipment under the agreement will leave Russia "in two to three days", Putin said during the meeting, as quoted by state news agency TASS.

The diesel deal infuriated Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. It triggered a tumultuous few weeks of deteriorating relations, during which Trump suspended several Russian sanctions - claiming they would hinder his efforts to broker peace - and said it was time for Ukraine to elect a new leader.

Kyiv meanwhile accused Washington of halting intelligence sharing on deadly Russian strikes, causing Ukrainians to lose their lives - an allegation Washington rejected as "scandalous".

The Ukrainian president said on Tuesday that such information sharing had resumed, following talks with Witkoff in Oslo described by the US as "positive".

As talks were under way in St Petersburg, Zelensky wrote on social media that "much depends on whether the American side can hear something new from Russia today – about peace, and not about continuing the war".

Russian state news agency Ria Novosti reported that the US and Russia discussed the outcome of the Oslo talks and that Witkoff had brought documents "outlining approaches to the peace process".

They also discussed the "situation surrounding Iran", a possible meeting in China, and economic cooperation with the US, with Putin reportedly stating that Russia could provide large quantities of fertiliser to the American market.

Witkoff was filmed by Russian TV saying the diesel deal was an example to Ukraine of what could be achieved by working together.

"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.

"I know [President Trump] is deeply grateful for it."