Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'
He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
What happened
Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained in Moscow in 2021 for carrying 17 grams of medically prescribed marijuana, arrived in the U.S. Tuesday on the private jet of President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump's national security adviser, Michael Waltz, said the U.S. and Russia had "negotiated an exchange" to get Fogel home, but declined to say who or what Russia got in return.
Who said what
"I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now," Fogel said last night as Trump greeted him at the White House. Trump said the deal for his release was "very fair, very reasonable," and Russia got "not much" in return. Trump and Waltz described Fogel's return as a goodwill gesture by Russian President Vladimir Putin and a step toward negotiating an end to Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Fogel, 63, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and was serving a 14-year sentence. The Biden administration declared him "unjustly detained" but not until October 2024, too late for him to be included in a large August 2024 prisoner exchange that brought home Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, among others. Fogel's family had criticized President Joe Biden for not pushing for his release, and petitioned Trump for help.
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What next?
Trump said somebody else "very special" is "being released" Wednesday, though he declined to say who or from where. Russia is still holding "roughly two dozen Americans and dual U.S.-Russian citizens," The Wall Street Journal said.
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