By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A Russian national imprisoned in a U.S. jail on money laundering charges has been freed in exchange for the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel from prison in Russia.
Fogel, a 63-year-old former diplomat, landed at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington, DC, late on Tuesday evening. He looked tired but happy before President J. Donald Trump welcomed him home at the White House.
Trump, standing alongside Fogel in the White House, said: “To me he looks damned good.”
Fogel, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had been a teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow and a diplomat at the U.S. embassy there. While in prison, he reportedly taught English to fellow inmates.
He had been held since 2021, wth the White Housing saying that the previous Biden administration failed to get him out while Trump did this “within 22 days.”
The White House released a photo of a jubilant Fogel disembarking a plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Alongside him were White House national security adviser Michael Waltz and Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s envoy for hostages.
He was then taken to the White House, where he was greeted outside on the North Portico by President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, among others.
After landing on US soil, the White House posted on X: “PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT!” along with a picture of Fogel.
President Trump told reporters the release was a “show of good faith” from the Russians and that it “could be a big important part” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We were treated very nicely by Russia,” he said. “Actually, I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war, and millions of people can stop being killed.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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