President Trump says he has been pressing Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Stephen Hubbard, the only American the U.S. has designated as wrongfully detained in Russia.
"I've been talking to President Putin about Mr. Hubbard. I've been talking to him at length," Trump told reporters in remarks from the Oval Office. "It's time to get Mr. Hubbard back."
U.S. emissaries are due in Russia Wednesday to meet with Russian negotiators about ending the war in Ukraine and talk about releasing American detainees, including Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher held in a Russian prison since 2022.
On Monday, Trump defended easing sanctions on Moscow as part of peace talks and said those talks include "hostage negotiations." At the time, he did not specify whose release he was seeking but a US official told Scripps News Tuesday that the American in question is Hubbard.
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The retired teacher with ties to the Midwest was accused and convicted of being a mercenary for Ukraine. He was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. Hubbard has denied the accusation and the U.S. State Department officially designated him last year as "wrongfully detained.”
"It's a pretty brutal situation if you are an American sitting in a Russian gulag, having very little contact with your family and not getting the full support of the American government, if you are not officially declared as wrongfully detained," Kieran Ramsey, chief investigative officer at REACH Global and a former assistant director of the FBI, told Scripps News.
Ramsey represents at least five Americans currently detained in Russia. He told Scripps News Russia has a long history of hostage diplomacy.”
"We we sadly have seen time and time and time again of Americans that were arrested and charged under false pretenses, convicted in some kind of sham court proceeding with the claim that they are a criminal, they are a spy. They are a terrorist, they are inciting violence. And every single one of these is proven to be false," Ramsey said.
Several other Americans are currently imprisoned in Russia but are not designated by the U.S. as "wrongfully detained." ABC News, citing sources, reported Tuesday that talks between the US and Moscow could include other prisoners.
Ramsey said Hubbard's potential release looks promising and will likely bring hope to other families.
"We see these discussions for sanctions relief like significant sanctions relief in the terms of millions and billions of dollars,” he said. “Well, these Americans lives, their families are worth every bit of effort to also make sure that they come home.”
