Russian prisoners in fogel exchange will soon return home, says Kreml

Russian prisoners in fogel exchange will soon return home, says Kreml

A Russian citizen was given as part of a Exchange return, as the Kremlin reports.

Details about release

The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday that a recent intensification of the contacts between the Russian and American authorities had led to the release of Fogel and a "Citizen of the Russian Federation" who is currently imprisoned in the United States. " According to Peskov, "the person will soon return to Russia", although identity will only be announced after their arrival in Russia.

welcome ceremony in the White House

Fogel arrived in the White House on Tuesday evening, enveloped by an American flag, and was received by US President Donald Trump, who said that it was "an honor to have played a small role" during his release.

more open there are

President Trump also announced that another American is expected to be released. At the moment, several Americans are still imprisoned in Russia, including at least two who are considered to be illegally imprisoned: Stephen Hubbard and the Russian-American double-stem citizen ksenia karelina .

negotiations on release

The deal for the release of Fogel, who was classified as illegally imprisoned by the US State Department, was negotiated by Trump, the special sentence for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, "and the president's advisors", as a statement by the national security consultant Mike Waltz states. Witkoff personally traveled to Russia for extraordinary negotiations, according to Waltz. Since then there have been no known high-ranking trips from US representatives to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine War in February 2022.

reactions to the release

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN that Fogel's release was not related to the end of the Moscow invasion in Ukraine, but he considers Russia's willingness to work as a "good sign". In terms of war, he said: "We don't just want him to end. We want him to end in a sustainable way."

This story continues to develop and is updated.

For this report, CNNS Kaitlan Collins and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn were carried.