Trump welcomes back teacher released by Russia

Donald Trump has welcomed home American schoolteacher Marc Fogel after he was released from prison in Russia, with the US president saying Vladimir Putin had got "not much" in return.Trump said that another detainee would be freed on Wednesday without giving their name.Mr Fogel, a 63-year-old former diplomat, landed at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington DC late on Tuesday evening, before travelling to the White House.

is release was negotiated as part of an exchange with Russia, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said earlier. Russia did not comment on the release "I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now," said Mr Fogel. "I'm a middle-class school teacher who's now in a dream world."r Fogel's sister, Anne Fogel, earlier told the BBC that her brother, who was detained in Russia in 2021, was moved last Wednesday from a penal colony in Rybinsk. She said the family had known his release was a possibility but also that the negotiations were "very tenuous

After landing on US soil, the White House posted on X: "PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT!" along with a picture of Mr FogeIn a statement obtained by CBS News, the BBC's US news partner, his wife Jane and sons Ethan and Sam said: "This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to healMr Fogel was arrested at an airport for illegal possession of cannabis in 202, He was charged with carrying a small amount of medical marijuana, which had been prescribed in the US, and given a 14-year prison sentence."I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now," said Mr Fogel. "I'm a middle-class school teacher who's now in a dream world."Mr Fogel's sister, Anne Fogel, earlier told the BBC that her brother, who was detained in Russia in 2021, was moved last Wednesday from a penal colony in Rybinsk. She said the family had known his release was a possibility but also that the negotiations were "very tenuous".After landing on US soil, the White House posted on X: "PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT!" along with a picture of Mr Fogel.

In a statement obtained by  News, the BBC's US news partner, his wife Jane and sons Ethan and Sam said: "This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal."Mr Fogel was arrested at an airport for illegal possession of cannabis in 2021.He was charged with carrying a small amount of medical marijuana, which had been prescribed in the US, and given a 14-year prison sentence.".Mr Fogel's legal team thanked Trump for his role in the negotiation and criticised what they called the "bureaucratic inaction" of the Biden administration."President Trump secured Marc's release in just a few weeks, wasting no time in taking decisive action to bring Marc home," a statement from his lawyers, also sent to , said.

Mr Fogel was not classed by the US government as wrongfully detained until December 2024, despite beginning his sentence in 2022.His family had tried to push former President Joe Biden to secure his release, and were left disappointed when he was left out of prisoner exchanges in 2022 and 2024.US basketball star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia on a similar charge of cannabis possession in 2022,