Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard as Putin tells Witkoff he is ready to resume three-way Ukraine talks

As of 3:25 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026

Russia on Wednesday released Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher who had been imprisoned on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said as he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, The Associated Press reported. AP described the release as what appeared to be a goodwill gesture by the Kremlin after President Donald Trump asked Putin to free Hubbard.

At the same meeting, Putin told Witkoff that Russia is ready in principle to resume three-way talks with the United States and Ukraine on ending the war, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said afterward.

"Our president informed Steve Witkoff that we are ready in principle to resume the above-mentioned trilateral talks around November 10 on the main subject," Ushakov said, according to Russia's state news agency TASS. "This topic is about building a security system for Russia and Ukraine."

"Headed back home"

"Today, Stephen Hubbard is free and headed back home to his family," Witkoff's official account, @SEPeaceMissions, posted at 1:26 p.m. ET. The post said Witkoff was with Hubbard in St. Petersburg "before he departed for the United States" and that "this release was not part of an exchange."

Trump wrote on Truth Social at 6:37 a.m. ET that Hubbard "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." He added that "the United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return" and that "Stephen is on his way back home."

Neither Witkoff's office nor Trump said when Hubbard would arrive in the United States.

Hubbard was first detained in April 2022 over allegations that he had been manning a military checkpoint in Izyum, Ukraine, where he had lived for nearly a decade, Reuters reported. He denied the charges but was later sentenced to six years and 10 months in prison, according to Reuters.

"You are a humanitarian also"

In the meeting's opening remarks, published by the Kremlin, Witkoff thanked Putin for the release. "Because of you, he is going home to his family," Witkoff said. Putin replied: "He is currently at Pulkovo Airport."

"You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that," Witkoff told Putin, Reuters reported. Reuters noted that Putin has been subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant since 2023 over the alleged unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.

What the Kremlin said about the talks

The St. Petersburg meeting lasted about three hours, AP reported, citing the Kremlin. Ushakov and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev were at the table, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joined by video link, Ushakov said, according to AP.

The Kremlin said the new talks would be held at a technical level and could take place in Abu Dhabi, Reuters reported. No such talks have taken place since February, according to Reuters. AP reported that the three countries held three rounds of trilateral negotiations early this year, in Abu Dhabi in January and February and in Geneva in February, with little progress beyond exchanges of prisoners of war.

Witkoff came to St. Petersburg a day after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo. He told Putin those talks were "productive" and that "there is some degree of momentum," according to the Kremlin's transcript. He said he had brought "some papers" with "some ideas about the different elements of some sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine."

The Kremlin was less positive about what came out of Oslo. The Ukrainian and European approaches that Witkoff relayed lacked much substance, the Kremlin said, according to AFP. "He mentioned some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv… but there wasn't really much substance in them," Ushakov told reporters, AFP reported.

Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on Fox News that freezing the conflict was the "minimum" required from Russia, AP reported. "Right now, we have to freeze, and I think this is (the) real way to end this war," he said.

This story follows our earlier coverage of Witkoff's diplomacy: Witkoff to join Ukraine talks in Oslo, Kushner to take part remotely, Norway says.