US citizen Stephen Hubbard is seen inside a glass cage during the announcement of his verdict in Moscow, Russia, in 2024. (EPA Images pic)ST PETERSBURG: Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the US, after talks that Washington said were a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a meeting in St Petersburg with US envoy Steve Witkoff, who later said the talks will continue toward planned technical-level discussions involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
Witkoff called Putin a "humanitarian" in thanking him for the move, a remark that drew sharp rebuke from Republican and Democratic lawmakers given Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
