Donald Trump has posted on Truth Social to celebrate Vladimir Putin’s decision to release Stephen Hubbard, a US citizen who was formally designated as wrongfully detained in Russia for four years.
Mr Hubbard’s release came after Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in St Petersburg for talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war.
Witkoff has come straight from Norway, where he met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in a bid to stabilise worsening relations between Kyiv and Washington.
In televised remarks at the beginning of his meeting with Putin, Witkoff said his goal was to discuss the resumption of trilateral talks involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
He said a resumption of talks would allow technical teams to discuss the next steps toward a peace settlement.
Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal report said it was Elon Musk who ordered the slowdown of Ukraine's access to his military-grade Starlink satellite internet, which is critical for Kyiv's attack and defence drone capabilities. Musk has previously claimed such decisions are down to the military and the president.
South Korea to recall some of its diplomats from Kyiv
South Korea will withdraw some of its diplomatic personnel from Ukraine amid worsening relations between Seoul and Kyiv over the disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs), Yonhap news agency reported, citing Seoul’s foreign ministry.
“This measure was taken because we judged it necessary to facilitate an amicable resolution of the issue and restore trust between the two countries,” foreign ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said, according to Yonhap.
The move follows South Korea’s decision to recall its ambassador to Ukraine on 8 October after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky publicly disclosed the transfer of the two prisoners to South Korea during his speech at the UN General Assembly on 23 September.
Seoul claims the announcement violated a confidentiality agreement between the two countries.
Trump hails Putin for releasing US citizen Stephen Hubbard
Donald Trump has posted on Truth Social to celebrate Vladimir Putin’s decision to release Stephen Hubbard, a US citizen who was formally designated as wrongfully detained in Russia for four years.
“Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family. The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return – an unprecedented situation for Russia,” the post read.
Hubbard’s release comes after a number of US concessions towards Russia in recent weeks, including a deal signed by Trump to obtain diesel from Moscow.
Nonetheless, Trump claimed that “there was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release”.
“Welcome home Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” the statement quoted Trump as saying.
Trump's envoy says he hopes to restart three-way talks with Russia and Ukraine
In televised remarks at the beginning of his meeting with Vladimir Putin, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said his goal was to discuss the resumption of trilateral talks involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
He said a resumption of talks would allow technical teams to discuss the next steps toward a peace settlement.
Witkoff and Putin met at St Petersburg’s Constantine Palace, with Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov also at the table. Witkoff said Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner would join the discussion via a video link.
Witkoff said he would inform Putin about Tuesday’s talks in Oslo, which he described as “productive,” adding that “there is some degree of momentum.”
He thanked Putin for lifting Russia’s ban on diesel exports, which angered some US lawmakers, adding that it would help reduce prices for US farmers and truckers.
Putin thanked Trump and Witkoff for their efforts to end the war and said he was ready to discuss restoring US-Russian economic ties.
Putin was also due to meet later on Wednesday with Chinese premier Li Qiang, who is in St Petersburg meeting with other Russian top officials, the Kremlin said.
‘I lay in a pool of blood after being shot at point blank range while undercover in Northern Ireland’
A former member of one of the British Army’s most secret surveillance units has, for the first time, told the dramatic story of his role in an undercover operation that ended with him being shot through the stomach, his partner mortally wounded, and a wanted IRA gunman fleeing injured into the night.
The veteran, known only as Blue*, recounted how events unfolded in episode five of* SAS: The Shadow War**.*
He was just 22 and serving with 14 Intelligence Company – the clandestine unit known simply as “the Det” – when he and another soldier set up a covert observation post beside a farm in South Derry on St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1978.
Full story: Putin says Russia is releasing Stephen Hubbard
Putin says he and Trump could meet in China
Russian president Vladimir Putin proposed meeting US president Donald Trump in China during talks with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Both US and Russian officials have confirmed in recent days that a possible three-way summit in China was being discussed, but this is the first time Putin has raised the prospect personally.
Any meeting would likely take place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China next month, which Trump is already due to attend.
Putin also offered to talkabout restoring economic cooperation between Moscow and Washington, Russian state TV said.
Putin tells Witkoff that Russia is releasing US citizen Stephen Hubbard
Russia has released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard, who had been imprisoned on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, US envoy Steve Witkoff says.
Witkoff is meeting today with Russian president Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. He says Putin told him that Hubbard was at the St Petersburg airport, Pulkovo, after his release.
Stephen Hubbard, of Michigan, was sentenced after a closed trial in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison. Prosecutors said he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and that he fought alongside them until being captured two months later.
The US government under the Biden administration designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained.
Analysis: Trump has finally abandoned the West for Putin
Rubio says Zelensky and Witkoff's meeting was 'positive'
US secretary of state Marco Rubio says special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky a day earlier had been “positive”, with nothing “unexpected” or “surprising”.
“He (Witkoff) 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,” Rubio told reporters in Mumbai today, where he is taking part in a two-day visit to India.
Pictures show a missile crater in Kharkiv after two killed
Pictures have shown the scale of damage in Kharkiv after overnight Russian drone strikes killed two people.
Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram on Wednesday another 11 people suffered stress reactions in the attack that struck private houses and caused other damage.
