Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the release of US captive Stephen Hubbard during talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Hubbard had been taken captive by Russian forces on charges of being a mercenary, which he denies. He was sentenced to seven years in prison at a closed trial in 2024.
The release of Hubbard was seen as a goodwill gesture to the Trump administreation as the two sides discuss a peace deal in Ukraine. Putin also proposed that Witkoff discuss the restoration of bilateral ties between Washington and Moscow, and the possibility of meeting with Trump in Beijing. The meeting — the ninth such talks between Witkoff and Putin —comes a day after Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as "positive." "He will now, armed with those ideas, be able to go to St.
Petersburg and share them with the Russian side, and let's see if we can make some progress," he said ahead of the talks. Witkoff's meeting with Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Oslo has brought fresh momentum to peace efforts, more than 4 years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader remained in Oslo on Wednesday where met with lawmakers in the Norwegian parliament.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that Witkoff planned to return to Oslo for further consultations after his trip to St. "I think we may have entered a phase now where the Russians are also looking for opportunities for diplomacy," he told Norway's public broadcaster NRK on Wednesday morning. Nevertheless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was willing to listen but that he didn't expect any "miracle." US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated that he wants Zelenskyy "to make a deal." Don't let the algorithm hide the news.
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