Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Trump asks Putin for Stephen Hubbard
Seized in 2022
Hubbard was seized by Russian forces in 2022 from Ukraine, where he was living. He was accused of being a mercenary and sent to a penal colony. U.S. officials have said the charges were fabricated and that he is wrongfully detained.
Trump's Response
Asked by a reporter whether the U.S. is on the verge of a deal to free him, Trump told the reporters to stick with him and said nobody else had been able to do it.
Easing Russia Sanctions
In the past few weeks, Trump has moved to ease sanctions on Russia and cut a deal to buy diesel fuel from the country, among other things. He faces mounting criticism for rehabilitating Russia's standing on the world stage.
How have U.S.-Russia prisoner swaps worked?
Prisoner swaps are usually negotiated quietly, often through intelligence services or intermediaries, and completed at a neutral location. In December 2022, Russia released the basketball player Brittney Griner in Abu Dhabi, and the United States freed the arms dealer Viktor Bout. In August 2024, an exchange in Ankara, Turkey, involving 24 people freed the American journalist Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, among others. It was the largest swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War.
How does the U.S. decide someone is wrongfully detained?
A 2020 law, the Levinson Act, lets the Secretary of State designate an American as wrongfully detained abroad. The criteria include whether the person is held in large part because they are a U.S. national, whether the detention aims to coerce, and whether there is credible evidence against them. A designation moves the case to the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The law is named for Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007.
More from The Headlines
