The White House announces unlawfully withheld American teacher Marc Fogel released from Russia in an ‘exchange’

Cnn
–

President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East leaves Russia with Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was imprisoned in Russia and considered “unlawfully detained” by the United States, according to a Tuesday statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Waltz said an “exchange” but did not specify what it entailed from Russia’s side, adding that it was a show of “good faith” from the Russians and a step in the right direction to end the war in Ukraine.

The Middle East -Release Steve Witkoff leaves the Russian airspace with Fogel, which was detained in 2021, Waltz said.

“President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the president’s advisers negotiated an exchange that serves as a show with good faith from the Russians and a sign we move in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine. … Tonight Marc Fogel will be on American soil and reunite with his family and dear thanks to President Trump’s leadership, ”Waltz said in a statement.

As CNN previously reported, Fogel, 61, worked for almost a decade as a history teacher at the Anglo-American school in Moscow, where children of American diplomats were among his students.

He was arrested in August 2021 at an airport in Moscow after he was found with cannabis. He had entered the country with approx. 17 grams of cannabis, as his family and lawyer said were recommended by a doctor for the treatment of “severe back pain.”

This is an evolving story and will be updated.