Trump's envoy visits Russia
Photo: Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor to the President of the United States (facebook.com/MichaelWaltzForCongress)
US President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Russia today, February 11, to secure the release of an American imprisoned there, stated US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, according to CBS correspondent Margaret Brennan.
Waltz revealed that Witkoff is returning from Russia with Marc Fogel, who was sentenced by Russian authorities to 14 years in a high-security penal colony on alleged drug smuggling charges.
"President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the president’s advisors negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine," the national security advisor added.
He assured that Trump will continue working to bring home Americans detained around the world.
According to Waltz, Fogel will be home and reunited with his family by tonight.
Notably, earlier in the day, media reports circulated suggesting that Witkoff’s plane had landed near Moscow at Vnukovo Airport.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin claimed they had no information about a visit by the US President’s special envoy to Russia.
Prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States
Last summer, the United States and Russia conducted a large prisoner exchange.
Russia returned Americans who had been illegally convicted to the United States, and the United States handed over the killer Vadim Krasikov and others to the Russians.
Read more about the prisoner exchange in the material by RBC-Ukraine.
