Stephen Hubbard stands in a glass cage during a 2024 court session in Moscow, in a photo released by Russian judicial authorities. Photo: Moscow City Court Press Service/AP

“Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family,” Trump said in a post on social media, adding that the decision came after a request he made during a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

Trump said Hubbard’s release was not part of a broader prisoner exchange.

Hubbard’s attorney, Martin De Luca, thanked the Trump administration for making Hubbard’s return a “top priority,” in a statement Wednesday. “We hope Stephen’s release will build further momentum toward bringing every American home and broader diplomatic progress,” he said.

The Hubbard family said they were “overjoyed and deeply grateful that Stephen is free,” in a statement shared by his lawyer.

Speaking during a meeting with Putin Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff praised the Russian leader as a “humanitarian” for releasing Hubbard.

“You are a humanitarian sir, I salute that and I commend you and I thank you again,” Witkoff said.

Hubbard, 74, was released at a moment when Russia and Ukraine appear to be in a fierce tug of war for the Trump administration’s favor amid its efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Trump has recently criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, called for his ouster, and has portrayed Moscow as more willing to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Putin has presided over a nearly five-year war against Ukraine that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Trump also signed a diesel deal with Russia and waived punishing sanctions against Moscow just days before they were due to go into effect, stirring bipartisan outrage in the U.S. and Ukraine. Russia has welcomed the latest moves as a sign that Western support for Ukraine is crumbling.

On Wednesday, Trump suggested his decision to waive sanctions against Russia was linked to Hubbard’s release. “If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt,” he said.

Putin said Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, in remarks broadcast by state media as he met with Witkoff. On Tuesday, Trump said he had been speaking to Putin about Hubbard’s release.

“I’d love to get him back,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “It’s time to have Mr. Hubbard back.”

Witkoff’s visit to St. Petersburg comes a day after he met with Zelensky in Norway alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

On Wednesday, Witkoff told Putin he hoped he would consider trilateral talks to discuss a “settlement” for the war in Ukraine.

Putin thanked Trump for his efforts and said he wanted to discuss how to restore economic cooperation with the U.S.

Hubbard, originally from Big Rapids, Mich., worked as an English teacher abroad for decades, including in Japan and Cyprus. He had lived in Ukraine since 2014.