The US-incarcerated Russia will be released “in the coming days” in exchange for this week's release of American school teacher Mark Vogel, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told reporters that Russia would not identify prisoners until after its release.
Peskov said the fierce talks between the US and Russia have led to “both Vogel's release and one of the citizens of the Russian Federation currently being held at US detention facilities.”
Peskov added:
American officials did not immediately comment.
After spending more than three years in prison in Russia, Vogel returned to the US from Moscow on a private jet with President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkov. Ukraine.
He was greeted by Trump at the White House.
The White House called Vogel's release a “exchange,” but it was not immediately clear who the Kremlin would be out of the deal or what it would get.
Vogel, 63, worked at an Anglo-American school in Moscow for almost ten years before being arrested at Moscow Airport in August 2021.
He was found to be traveling with cannabis, but his lawyer said it was intended to reduce back pain.
Vogel was convicted in June 2022 for saying that Russian authorities were engaged in “large drug smuggling” and was sentenced to 14 years in a security prison.
The US State Department publicly declared in December that Vogel was “illegally detained.” The designation, which his family described as a long postponement, meant that Vogel's lawsuit had moved to a special State Department office that focused on hostage releases held overseas.
Fogel's family said in December that he endured “unusually difficulties” in prison, but other Americans detained in Russia were brought into the house in three different prisoner swaps.
If the US releases the Russians in return for Vogel's release, trade delays would be a surprising departure from the harsh choreography of prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington during the Biden administration.
Famous deals like the release of basketball star Britney Griner in 2022 and journalist Evangerkovic in 2024, Americans are taken to airports in a third country where they are traded for Russians at tarmac. Ta.
The delayed approach allowed Trump to claim a minor victory on Tuesday without discussing what the US gave up in Vogel's return.
“We were treated very well by Russia,” Trump said, saying the deal could pave the way for the end of the war in Ukraine. He said, “I hope that's the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war.”
The extraordinary circumstances of Vogel's release included a search by Witkoff, a real estate developer who is one of Trump's most trusted EUs.
Witkov flew to Moscow on a private jet on Tuesday to reclaim the American prisoners. It is the first time a senior US official has visited the Russian capital since 2021, revealing that Trump has left the Biden administration's diplomatic strategy of segregating Russia.
What Witkov did on the ground in Moscow remained unknown. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov declined to comment on whether Witkov had met President Vladimir V. Putin.
Referring to the importance of the deal with Russia's relations with the United States, Peskov said: It is now at its lowest point. ”
