Trump says he asked Putin to release American held in Russia

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had asked Vladimir Putin to release Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher imprisoned in Russia. Trump named Hubbard as the detainee Washington is seeking to bring home, but announced neither an agreement nor a date for his release. [2]

“I’ve asked him to release him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He asked them to remember the question “for a couple of days from now”, but added: “We’ll see what happens.” He did not say what Putin had told him. [2]

Hubbard, 74, was sentenced by a Moscow court in October 2024 to six years and 10 months in prison on a mercenary charge. Russia alleges that he fought for Ukraine; his US-based lawyer told Reuters that Hubbard denied the allegation. Russian state media say he was detained in Ukraine in April 2022, but Reuters could not establish the circumstances of his capture. The US State Department has designated him “wrongfully detained”. [7][10][8]

Trump referred to ongoing “hostage negotiations” in an 18 October social media post about his Russia policy. Two days earlier, he had signed an order waiving the application of sanctions and import duties under parts of the 2026 Graham Act. The order leaves certain sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders intact. The post did not name Hubbard or set out a sanctions-for-release arrangement. [6][5]

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said US and Russian intelligence services were in contact about detainees, but said he had nothing to report about Hubbard. His remarks preceded Trump’s Oval Office comments and did not address a conversation between the presidents. [4]

ABC News reported that negotiations over the release of several Americans, including Hubbard, were in their final stages, citing two US officials and another person familiar with the talks. Those sources cautioned that nothing had been finalised and the proposed deal might not happen.