An American teacher sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison on drug charges has been released in what U.S. officials described as a “show of good faith” by Moscow.
The White House confirmed Tuesday that Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania native arrested in 2021 for marijuana possession, was freed following negotiations led by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Fogel, who had been teaching at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, was detained at a Russian airport with medical marijuana that he said had been prescribed to him after back surgery. Despite appeals from his family and legal representatives, he had been excluded from previous high-profile prisoner exchanges between Washington and Moscow.
White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said that Witkoff personally escorted Fogel out of Russian airspace and that the former teacher was expected to be reunited with his family later Tuesday.
Fogel’s release comes as diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Russia intensify, with discussions centering on efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“This release is a sign that we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine,” Waltz said in a statement. However, U.S. officials did not disclose what was given in return for Fogel’s release.
When asked by reporters, President Donald Trump responded: “Not much,” while expressing hope that this development could be a step toward a broader diplomatic resolution.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested a possible exchange of territory as part of any future negotiations to end the war.
“We will swap one territory for another,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with The Guardian, further adding that Kyiv would yield part of the Kursk region it has captured in a cross-border incursion in August 2024.
As for which Russian-occupied areas Ukraine would demand in return, the Ukrainian leader said: “I don’t know, we will see. But all our territories are important, there is no priority.”
Zelensky is expected to discuss this further during a meeting with the U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference later this week. Vance has previously expressed skepticism about continued American support for Ukraine.
