President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Russia on Wednesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and oversee the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan who had been in Russian detention since 2022, according to reports in Russian state-run media.

Witkoff landed in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday morning, a Kremlin aide confirmed, ahead of the planned meeting with Putin.

Trump's envoy thanked Putin for freeing Hubbard, according to a readout of the meeting published by Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.