US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is on his way back from Moscow, presumably as part of behind-the-scenes diplomatic talks between Putin and the Trump administration on jump-starting peace talks related to the Ukraine war.
The White House has announced that Witkoff has secured the release of history teacher Marc Fogel of Pennsylvania, who has been in Russian prison since he was detained in August 2021 at a Russian airport for Marijuana.
Fogel and his family have from the start maintained it was for medically prescribed marijuana, and his case is somewhat parallel to the Brittney Griner saga - but Fogel's legal team has long complained that his case was forgotten by the Biden administration who secured Griner's release (in Dec. 2022) in exchange for arms trafficker Viktor Bout earlier in the war, a controversial trade to say the least.
"President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the president's advisors negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign that we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine," White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said.
Details of the exchange have yet to be revealed, but Walz confirmed that Fogel has left Russian airspace and will soon be reunited with his family after nearly half a decade.
NSA Walz's statement mentions an 'exchange' but gives no details of who/what was exchanged with the Russians towards securing Marc Fogel's release. https://t.co/G8gBEjY3dx
— Camilla Schick (@CamJourno) February 11, 2025
This is a huge development, merely weeks in to the new Trump administration, and strongly suggests that diplomacy between Trump and Putin is moving forward and is strong.
It looks promising as far as the potential for Ukraine peace, and this could be a 'goodwill offering' of sorts by Putin.
School teacher Marc Fogel has served over three years in Russian prison on the drug-related conviction; however, the Biden administration did not declared him wrongfully detained even as it secured the release of Griner as well as Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (the latter two last year), which had outraged his family which now suedi the federal government over prior lack of action.
