Russia frees jailed American Stephen Hubbard, US envoy says

US special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday as part of new efforts toward a peace deal in Ukraine . Putin announced the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American taken captive by Russian forces years ago in Ukraine on charges of being a mercenary. Hubbard had been sentenced to seven years in prison at a closed trial in 2014. The meeting comes a day after Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway , which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as "positive." "He will now, armed with those ideas, be able to ‌go to St Petersburg and share them with the Russian side, and ‌let's ​see if we can make some progress," he said.