Putin said Hubbard was already at the airport. The same one Witkoff had landed at earlier that day.
That's everything we know.
Why this mattersSo why does this matter? Because of when it happened.
Right now, there's a fresh push for Ukraine peace talks. And this release landed right in the middle of it.
Here's Hubbard's story. He moved to the Ukrainian city of Izyum back in 2014. Russian prosecutors said he signed up to fight for Ukraine's military for about a thousand dollars a month. They captured him in April 2022, about two months later.
A Moscow court convicted him of being a mercenary. Sentenced him to nearly seven years.
But his sister says that's a lie. Patricia Hubbard Fox has always said the charge was false. The US State Department agreed — it called him wrongfully detained.
And here's the moment that matters. Witkoff looked at Putin and thanked him on camera, on behalf of the president and the whole country, for letting Hubbard go home to his family.
Donald Trump says he personally pushed Putin on this case, at length, just one day before the release.
So what was Witkoff actually doing in St Petersburg? Trying to get a three-way meeting. Zelensky, Putin and Trump, all in one room.
He'd just come from Oslo, where he met Zelensky alongside Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finland's President Alexander Stubb.
But here's the problem. Putin has avoided meeting Zelensky face to face for most of this war. And Russian state media hasn't said a word about him agreeing to one now.
And there's tension on the other side too. Ukraine has accused Washington of limiting intelligence-sharing on incoming Russian missiles, slowing Starlink and delaying weapons, all in the last few weeks.
Days before Hubbard's release, Trump's administration waived sanctions on Russia just two days before they were due to kick in. Putin welcomed that. Politicians from both parties in Congress did not.
Hubbard is the second American Russia has freed in about two months. Robert Gilman went home in August, on health grounds.
So what did America give up for this one? Nobody's saying.
And nobody can even agree how many Americans are still locked up in Russia. CBS News says as many as ten, including dual nationals. The Washington Times cites the Foley Foundation putting it at around two dozen.
Putin's office hasn't added anything else. Neither has Ukraine.
