White House announces wrongfully detained American teacher Marc Fogel released from Russia in an ‘exchange’ – CNN
Source: CNN
Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, was welcomed back to the US by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.”
Fogel arrived at the White House late Tuesday draped in an American flag and was greeted by Trump, who said it was “an honor to have played a small role” in his release.
“Thank you all, and I love our country, and I’m so happy to be back here. And I wish I could articulate it better,” said Fogel, who appeared overwhelmed with emotion as he spoke in the Diplomatic Reception Room.
The deal to release Fogel, who was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, was negotiated by Trump, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “and the President’s advisers,” according to a statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz.
The statement did not provide any details about the “exchange,” other than to say it was “a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.” Trump did not provide any additional details on the exchange Tuesday night, but called it “very fair, very reasonable, not like deals you’ve seen over the years” and said conditions of Fogel’s release would be announced Wednesday.
When asked whether the release would be the start of a peace deal, Trump said, “There’s good will in terms of the war” and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for his role.
“You could be a big part of it, actually, because it could be a big, important part of getting the war over with Ukraine,” Trump said, turning to Fogel as they stood together. “And we appreciate President Putin for what he did. He was able to pull it off for you, right?”
Trump confirmed that another American is expected to be released but did not elaborate. There are still a number of Americans detained in Russia, and at least two have been designated as wrongfully detained: American Stephen Hubbard and Russian-American dual national Ksenia Karelina.
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Earlier in the evening, Trump’s pick to serve as special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, teased on “The Source” the release of an additional detained American on Wednesday but would not say whether the person was in Russia. “That’s going to be a surprise for tomorrow,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Boehler, who was speaking alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said that Fogel’s release would not play out as a direct one-for-one exchange with a Russian held in the US on the tarmac Tuesday.
“You won’t see an exchange go on right now. I think you will see the president give consideration if there are some nonviolent people where maybe there’s no issues one way or the other, but you will not see a one-for-one thing happening at the same time,” he said from Joint Base Andrews ahead of Fogel’s arrival.
In an extraordinary move, Witkoff had personally gone to Russia to bring back Fogel, Waltz’s statement indicated. There has been no known high-level US travel to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Witkoff, who is Trump’s Middle East envoy and didn’t have previously known official dealings with Russia, was involved in part because he leveraged relationships in the Middle East to further the agreement, according to two people briefed on the discussions.
Witkoff has crisscrossed the region in recent months working on the Gaza ceasefire deal, notably in Qatar, a primary mediator. Doha was involved in helping Witkoff and the administration with Tuesday’s exchange deal through introductions Qataris made to Russian intermediaries, the people briefed said.
Fogel told reporters Tuesday night that he was “in awe” of his family, who he called “a force,” and said he was “indebted to so many people.”
Earlier in the day, his family said they were “beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention” he was coming home.
“Thanks to the unwavering leadership of President Trump, Marc will soon be back on American soil, free where he belongs,” Jane, Ethan and Sam Fogel said in a statement. “This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal.”
Fogel’s sister, Anne Fogel, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” that his wife and children are headed to Texas to see him Wednesday because of a winter storm in Washington, DC. She said the family was notified last week that her brother was moved from a prison in Rybinsk, so they “knew something was happening” and had been waiting anxiously.
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