US Nears Russia Deal To Free Detained Americans, Witkoff En Route To Moscow
ABC and The New York Times are reporting that multiple Americans detained in Russia could soon be free as part of a major Trump deal with Moscow.
Negotiations are said to be in the final stages, with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff set to be in Moscow on Wednesday. And so a major announcement and release could happen by the time he leaves the Russian capital later the same day.
Stephen Hubbard, an American who is accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine forces when he was captured in 2022, is expected to be among the released prisoners.
Citing unnamed officials, ABC writes, "They add that the talks have centered on freeing Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old retired teacher who is the only American held in Russia officially designated as wrongfully detained by the State Department, as well as several other U.S. citizens held by Moscow on what the administration said it believes are dubious charges."
President Trump acknowledged Monday that he was "trying to get a hostage that the country has been after for a long time" - which appeared to refer to Hubbard. "Let's see what happens," Trump said. "That'll be soon."
On Tuesday, Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in Oslo as part of efforts to find an end to the Ukraine war. In a closing presser for the talks, Zelensky said the latest working proposal features security guarantees for Ukraine modelled on NATO's Article 5, which is the collective defense clause.
"We have discussed security guarantees, and I’m grateful to the American side for emphasizing once again that they will be strong," Zelensky said following talks in Oslo.
"We discussed NATO, Article 5 and Article 5-like guarantees. Different types of security guarantees are included in the document, which Steve will share with the Russians, and we will hear their feedback."
However, the Kremlin is unlikely to go for NATO Article 5-style protections, given a key rationale for the 'special military operation' in the first place was NATO expansion up to Russia's doorstep.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has meanwhile said, "We hope that a meeting can be arranged in the very near future, and that the American negotiators, Mr. Witkoff, will be able to brief President Putin on their contacts with both the Ukrainians and the Europeans."
Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Store says US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to St Petersburg tomorrow for talks with the Russian leadership, following today’s discussions in Oslo with Zelensky and EU representative Alexander Stubb. “He will... exchange ideas from this meeting and proposals developed by European and American colleagues, and possibly pave the way for a meeting at the leaders’ level.”
— Brian McDonald (@BrianMcDonaldIE) October 20, 2026
Witkoff is due in Moscow Wednesday, where he is indeed expected to present the results of the Oslo talks to Putin and his team.
Peskov said further: "We consider such meetings to be of great importance on every occasion. They are always timely and very substantive, and we greatly appreciate the mediation efforts of the American negotiators."