Donald Trump has welcomed home an American teacher who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Russia.
Marc Fogel, 63, was pictured in the White House with President Trump on Tuesday – more than three years after he was arrested in Moscow on a drug smuggling charge.
The history teacher was detained after travelling with what his family said was medically prescribed cannabis. In December, the US government designated him as wrongfully detained.
Mr Fogel.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Mr Fogel left Russia with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in a move officials said could help bring about talks to end the Ukraine war.
“I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now,” Mr Fogel said, after President Trump welcomed him to the White House.
An American flag draped around his shoulders and a beer in his hands, he added: “I am not the hero in this at all. President Trump is the hero.
“These men, who came from the diplomatic service, are heroes. I’m a middle-class school teacher who’s now in a dream world.”
Mr Trump, who stood alongside him in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room during an event to mark his release, added: “To me he looks damned good.”
President Donald Trump and Marc Fogel in the White House at an event celebrating the teacher’s release.
Pic: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Moscow has so far not commented and it is unclear what concessions the US might have made.
“We are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home,” Mr Fogel’s family said in a statement.
They said their time apart had been “the darkest and most painful period of our lives”.
Mr Trump added that Mr Fogel’s release “could be a big important part” of ending the Ukraine war but he refused to say what the US had given in exchange, instead telling reporters: “Not much.”
Mr Fogel was pictured enjoying a drink on the flight home. Pic: Reuters
He added: “We were treated very nicely by Russia.”
Both Mr Trump and Mr Fogel thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Witkoff made the unannounced trip to Moscow to pick up Mr Fogel – who was pictured on the plane home with a raised glass, a cheese plate and his US passport.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (left) helped secure the release. File pic: Reuters
Mr Trump added that another person would be released on Wednesday. But he didn’t identify who it would be.
Mr Trump said last month his administration was involved in “very serious” talks with Russia about the future of the conflict.
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Mr Fogel’s release comes six months after he was excluded from the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War.
That historic deal won the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, among others.
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Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov was among those released from Western prisons in exchange.
However, US-Russian national Ksenia Khavana remains locked up after getting a 12-year treason sentence in August related to a $52 (£42) donation to a charity benefiting Ukraine.