United States President Donald Trump welcomed Marc Fogel at the White House on Tuesday, a US teacher who was released by Russia after being detained in the country since August 2021.
"Welcome home," President Trump wrote on his X platform account, alongside a video showing Fogel's arrival at the White House on a snowy night in the capital.
"I feel like the luckiest man in the world right now," said the American from inside the White House, after greeting President Trump.
Marc Fogel, born in 1959, is an American school teacher who was arrested in August 2021 by Russian authorities for attempting to enter the country with medical cannabis. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
"My family has been a force (of support) (...) all the love I received is what sustained me for three and a half years in prison," said Fogel, wearing an American flag around his neck and thanking Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump, on his part, stated that "everyone knows Mark" and that he is a "very famous man and is very happy today."
The president also told reporters that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the process of bringing Fogel to the US and sees his release as a step towards ending the war in Ukraine.
"I believe he can be an important part in ending the war, we appreciate what President Putin did," said the president, announcing that another American will be released on Wednesday.