‘No swap’ needed: Trump takes credit for Stephen Hubbard’s release by Russia

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (Oct 21) said that American citizen Stephen Hubbard has been released from Russian custody and was “on his way back home”. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump hailed Hubbard’s release, saying that he was released from prison following his request to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week during a phone call. This comes after Putin first announced the release during a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired English teacher, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison by a Russian court in October 2024 for “mercenary work” on behalf of Ukraine, a charge he denies.

Trump says ‘no swap’ for Hubbard’s release

Announcing his release by the Russian authorities, Trump said on Truth Social, “Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week. Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family.”

He further added that the United States was not required to give anything in return for Hubbard’s release and that there was “no swap” involved.

“The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return – an unprecedented situation for Russia. There was no “swap” necessary for this release.”

He also took a swipe at his predecessor Joe Biden, saying that his return should have taken place long before during the Biden administration, which he claimed “got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin”.

Trump also linked Hubbard’s release to recent suspensions of some US sanctions and tariffs on Russia.

“If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt,” he said in another post.

Putin-Witkoff talks

The announcement came on Wednesday as Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin to brief him on his meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo a day earlier. The US envoy described the meeting with Zelensky as “productive”.

A day before the announcement, US President Donald Trump said he had personally asked Putin to secure Hubbard’s release.

“I’ve been talking to him at length. I've asked him to release him. Let's see what happens,” Trump told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.

Speaking on Wednesday, Witkoff thanked Putin on behalf of Trump and the American public over Hubbard’s release, describing the Russian leader as a “humanitarian”.