American school teacher released by Russia

The American school teacher and former diplomat Marc Fogel landed in the United States after he was released from prison in Russia.

The 63 -year -old landed at the Andrews joint base on the outskirts of Washington DC on Tuesday night. He is ready to meet with President Donald Trump in the White House later.

Fogel’s statement was negotiated as part of an exchange with Russia, said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Tuesday, on Tuesday without providing more details.

Russia has not commented on its release. Meanwhile, Mr. Fogel’s sister told the BBC of her “great relief” before their freedom.

“Plain celebrate for the next 24 hours,” said Anne Fogel. “We are very happy.”

She said her brother, who detained in Russia in 2021, was transferred last Wednesday of a criminal colony in Rybinsk. She said the family knew that her liberation was a possibility, but also that “these negotiations are very faint.”

After landing on American soil, the White House published in X: “Promises made, promises maintained!” Together with a photo of Mr. Fogel.

In a statement obtained by CBS News, the American news couple of the BBC, his wife Jane and his children, Ethan and Sam, said: “This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today we begin to heal” .

Fogel was arrested at an airport for illegal cannabis possession in 2021.

He was accused of carrying a small amount of medicinal marijuana, which had been prescribed in the US, and gave him a 14 -year prison sentence.

Fogel’s legal team thanked Trump for his role in the negotiation and criticized what they called the “bureaucratic inaction” of the previous Biden administration.

“President Trump said Marc’s release in just a few weeks, not wasting time to take decisive measures to bring Marc home,” said a statement from his lawyers, also sent to CBS.

Mr. Fogel was not classified by the United States government as unfairly detained until December 2024, despite starting his sentence in 2022.

His family had tried to pressure former President Joe Biden to ensure his release, and was disappointed when he was out of prisoner exchanges in 2022 and 2024.

The American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia for a similar charge of cannabis possession in 2022, was released in an exchange for Russian weapons trafficker Viktor fights 10 months later.

Subsequently, the Biden administration assured the release of three more Americans last year as part of The greatest exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West since the Cold War. The Americans released were the reporter of the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, the American veteran Marine Paul Whelan and the Russian-American Radio journalist Alsu Kurmaasheva.

Ana Fogel He told the BBC At the time of the feeling of “betrayal” when he knew that his brother was not included in the exchange of prisoners, which Biden had praised as a “feat of diplomacy.”

Fogel, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a teacher at the Anglo -American School of Moscow. He had previously worked as a diplomat at the United States embassy there.

While he was in prison, according to the reports, he taught English to his fellow inmates.

It is not clear if the United States launched someone in exchange for Mr. Fogel.

Fogel flew back to the United States with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy in the Middle East.

Witkoff’s trip to Russia is the first of a senior American official to the country in several years. Most of the contact between the nations closed after the invasion of Russia of Ukraine.

The National Security Advisor Waltz said that the launch of Mr. Fogel was a “show of good faith of the Russians and a sign that we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.” He did not provide more details.

President Trump previously announced on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott Besent would travel to Ukraine at the end of this week.

During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to end war in Ukraine in 24 hours.

But in an interview with Fox News on Monday, he said: “They (Ukraine) can reach an agreement, they may not reach an agreement. They can be Russians someday, or they may not be Russians someday.”

Asked by the BBC about the link made by the officials between the launch and the conflict in Ukraine, Anne Fogel said: “These are the giant machinations of world politics at stake.

“It will be interesting to look back and see how this fits and … how history develops.”