A 74-year-old Michigan man imprisoned in Russia for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces has been released after President Donald Trump asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free him, Putin said Wednesday. Stephen Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg when Putin announced his release, as talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff were getting underway in the city. The discussions focused on U.S. efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russian forces detained Hubbard in eastern Ukraine in 2022. A Russian court convicted him of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine after a closed trial in 2024 and sentenced him to nearly seven years in prison. Before the talks, Trump said he had asked Putin to release Hubbard. The U.S. government had formally designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained during the Biden administration. The release comes amid Trump’s push for a negotiated end to the war, alongside moves to ease some sanctions on Moscow and public criticism of Ukraine. The case places the fate of an American detainee alongside broader negotiations between Washington and Moscow, though no further details about Hubbard’s plans after his release were provided.