Who is the American professor released by Russia who met with Trump?
Marc Fogel was arrested in Moscow in August 2021 and, according to Washington, had been unjustly imprisoned.
The United States announced on Tuesday the release of Marc Fogel, a professor who had been detained in Russia for more than three years. The handover of the American citizen was part of an "exchange" with Moscow, according to the White House, which said Fogel, convicted of drug trafficking, had been imprisoned "unjustly." It was Donald Trump himself who welcomed the professor on his return home.
Wrapped in an American flag, Fogel arrived in the United States on Tuesday from Moscow. From the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, emotional and holding a can in his hand, he saw himself as "the luckiest man in the world" and added that he does not consider himself a hero "at all": "President Trump is the hero."
What has been the agreement between the United States and Russia?
A statement signed by White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said that Steve Witkoff was the one who negotiated Fogel's release. Witkoff is Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East and was the one who made an unexpected stop in Moscow to pick up the American citizen and travel with him to the United States.
The White House has not given too many details about the reason for this exchange: "It is a sign of good faith by Russia," Waltz said. But the truth is that the release of the imprisoned professor came just hours before the call between Putin and Trump in which agreed to open immediate negotiations on Ukraine. "It's a sign that we're moving in the right direction to end this terrible war," the security minister said.
What has the United States given in exchange for the prisoner? "Not much," said Trump, who considered the conditions agreed upon for Fogel's release to be "very fair." The president also announced the release, scheduled for Wednesday, of a second American citizen. His identity remains unknown.
Arrest and sentencing of Marc Fogel
The freed professor is a 63-year-old schoolteacher who was arrested by Russian authorities in August 2021. He was detained at Moscow's Xeremetyevo airport with 17 grams of marijuana and sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crime in June 2022. Cannabis is legal, a member of the professor's legal team said.
Fogel has served more than 3 years of his sentence. Following his release, the professor's family issued a statement: "We are beyond grateful, relieved and overwhelmed that our father, husband and son is finally coming home."
Marc Fogel's name was not included in the US-Russian prisoner release last August, when Moscow released The journalist Pablo Gonzalez in the largest exchange between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War.