U.S. Particular Envoy to the Center East Steve Witkoff mentioned some issues had been nonetheless up within the air when he hopped on his jet to Russia to debate the potential launch of American college trainer Marc Fogel.Â
Witkoff, a longtime good friend of President Donald Trump, mentioned Wednesday on “Hannity” that somebody who’s an middleman between the USA and Russian governments reached out with a possibility to convey Fogel again.
A plan was introduced to the president and members of his Cupboard, together with nationwide safety advisor Mike Waltz and CIA director John Ratcliffe, who deemed the knowledge “credible” and “actionable.”
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Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania historical past trainer who was working on the Anglo-American Faculty in Moscow, returned to U.S. soil Tuesday evening, after Russia, the place he had been detained since 2021, launched him following talks with Trump administration officers. (The White Home through X)
Fox Information host Sean Hannity requested Witkoff if he knew the final word consequence when he acquired on the jet.Â
“You understand, we thought we had a really, excellent likelihood of Marc coming again. We weren’t constructive. There have been nonetheless some issues that I am not at liberty to speak about tonight,” the actual property investor mentioned.Â
“We thought it was a powerful sufficient alternative that we needed to go and, hopefully, we would have an excellent outcome. And, after all, we did. So I am grateful for that and grateful for the Fogel household.”
Fogel was launched Tuesday after he spent roughly three years in a Russian jail on drug expenses. He was not included within the August 2024 mass prisoner swap between the USA and Russia that noticed Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan freed.
This picture launched by the White Home exhibits Evan Gershkovich, left, Alsu Kurmasheva, proper, and Paul Whelan, second from proper, and others aboard a airplane, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, following their launch from Russian captivity. (White Home through AP)
The White Home introduced Russian nationwide Alexander Vinnik, who pleaded responsible final yr to conspiracy to commit cash laundering, can be launched as a part of the Fogel alternate.
Witkoff declined to touch upon whether or not he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout his journey.
Fogel met with Trump late Tuesday evening on the White Home sporting an American flag draped throughout his shoulders.
“I really feel just like the luckiest man on Earth proper now,” he mentioned, praising the president and his crew as “heroes” for securing his launch and bringing him house.
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U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Marc Fogel again to the USA after being launched from Russian custody, on the White Home on February 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Fogel, a historical past trainer from Pennsylvania was serving a 14-year jail sentence after being arrested at an airport in Moscow in August 2021 for possessing hashish, which he reportedly used to deal with continual again ache. He was launched earlier at this time as a part of an alternate negotiated by the Trump administration. (Picture by Win McNamee/Getty Photographs)
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“I feel he [Fogel] was pinching himself even after three-and-a-half years in jail. I feel he thought-about himself to be lucky. He is an instance of a really, very brave particular person and I am glad I had the privilege to satisfy him, to know him,” Witkoff mentioned. “I am going to keep in contact with him and play a small half in getting him his freedom.”
