The White House said on Tuesday that the US Special Envoy Steve Witchoff issued an American detailed in Russia during a visit to the country.
History teacher Mark Phogel, from Pennsylvania, at a Russian airport in August 2021, which he and his family said were in possession of him, which was medically prescribed marijuana.
“President Trump, Steve Witcoff and the President’s advisors interacted on an exchanges, which serves as a performance of good faith from the Russians and a sign that we are a sign in the right direction to end cruel and terrible Growing, “White House National Security. Advisor Mike Waltz said.
Waltz said that Vitchoff and Phogel had left the Russian airspace together on Tuesday, after the upset journey by the messenger, and they were expected to re -join the family later, Waltz said.
After the ‘most painful period of our life’, the family beyond ‘grateful’
Soon after the announcement, Phogel’s relative said he was beyond “grateful, relief and overwell” that he was coming home.
“This has been the deepest and most painful period of our life, but today, we begin to fix,” he said. “For the first time in years, our family may be ready for the future with Asha.”
No words yet on the terms of exchange
Waltz did not describe what the exchange is. Previous exchanges often include the mutual release of Russian captured by US ORS colleagues.
The most notable recent deal was in August 2024, when three major Russian dissidents and American reporter Ivan Gorskovic were released in exchange for Russian citizens in exchange for eggs, including intelligence agents, who launched 2019 murder in Berlin Park. Was put in jail.
When and why Phogel imprisoned and convicted?
Phogel was seen in August 2021 at Shermetevo Airport in Moscow with 17 grams of marijuana – which he said that he used for medical reasons – in his luggage.
Fogel was in June 2022, after a rapid fall in America’s Russian relations, after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after 14 years of jail sentence on drug smuggling charges.
A few months later he was transferred from Moscow Jail to a penalty colony, where he was prepared to serve the remaining part of his sentence.
In December 2024, after protests by family and supporters, the outgoing biden administration declared him “wrongly closed”.
Born at Butler, Pennsylvania, a 63 -year -old history teacher worked in international schools in many countries around the world during his career. He had been teaching at Anglo-American School in Moscow since 2012.
Edited by: Wesley Rahan
