US President Donald Trump spoke at a roundtable meeting held at the White House regarding the threat of cybercrime. Addressing the release of 75-year-old retired teacher and former soldier Stephen Hubbard, a US citizen who had been imprisoned in Russia for four years on charges of fighting for the Ukrainian army, Trump said, "I saw his family on television.
They were almost begging for his return. I was discussing ending the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin the other day. By the way, I think we are closer to a deal than we have perhaps ever been. I said to Putin, ‘Could you please release Stephen Hubbard?’ And he agreed. They met him in Russia today and he is currently on his way back," he said.
Trump stated that Hubbard is on his way back today with Steve Witkoff, the Special Envoy for the Middle East, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine and conveyed the proposals and positions of the US, Europe, and Ukraine to the Russian side. Trump said, "We are very pleased to have been able to bring him back. We gave nothing in return," he said.
"We are very grateful for this"
The US President said, "This development took place during my phone call with President Putin at the end of last week. We are very grateful for this," he stated. When asked about Witkoff describing Putin as "humane," Trump said, "I think you could say that in terms of him allowing the release of a man who thought he would spend the rest of his life in prison," he said.
Stating that they are negotiating to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine and that they are also very pleased that Russia is not involved regarding Iran, Trump said, "We have brought Iran down to levels it has never seen before. They are in a very bad situation. Everything they have, including their military, air defense systems, and economy, is gone. The only thing that isn't gone is inflation. As of this morning, it is 301 percent. Their currency has devalued, everything they have is gone," he said.
"China is also involved in the process"
Defending himself against heavy criticism regarding Russia and claiming that no one actually knows what he is doing, Trump said, "At that time, I was trying to get Stephen (Hubbard) out of Russia. If we had done what those fools wanted me to do, he wouldn't be getting released right now. He would have stayed there for another 20 years. Therefore, the last thing I would want to do is disrupt that process. Whether you like it or not, Russia was in a position to provide very strong support to Iran. China was the same. However, their involvement remained relatively limited. In truth, both of them want the war to end. Therefore, we are working with Russia in this direction, and China is also involved in the process," he said.
News Source: 12punto
