Trump announced the release on Wednesday (US time), posting on Truth Social that Hubbard was on his way home and would soon be reunited with his family. 'The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return, an unprecedented situation for Russia,' he wrote. 'There was no “swap” necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin.'
Trump added that 'numerous people' had apologised for criticising his decision to waive sanctions on Russia and its partners, saying they had not known he was negotiating Hubbard's release. 'If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt,' he said.
The release was finalised during a visit to St Petersburg by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met Putin to discuss the war. According to the Kremlin pool report, Witkoff told Putin: 'You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again.'
Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland, criticised the exchange on X, writing that US negotiators should generally avoid both 'obsequious flattery' and 'performative shouting'. 'One generates contempt; the other devolves into mutual posturing,' he said.
While no direct prisoner swap occurred, the US has made recent concessions to Russia, including a proposal to buy 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel. Trump has also intensified criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming Zelensky does not want to end the war and calling for his replacement.
Following the meeting, the Kremlin said Russia was prepared to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US as soon as next month. Such talks have not occurred since February, before the US-Israeli war on Iran. In an interview with Fox News, Zelensky said he would accept trilateral negotiations with Trump and Putin but would prefer European leaders be involved and would oppose any format that included China but excluded Ukraine. 'I always said we are open to negotiate in any format, any topics, but don’t speak about us without us please,' he told Fox News.