Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in negotiations over the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison, a source close to the negotiations between Russia and the United States told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Released American schoolteacher Marc Fogel reacts during an event held by U.S. President Donald Trump to welcome back Fogel, who had been held in Russia since 2021, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 11, 2025. Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in negotiations over the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison, a source close to the negotiations between Russia and the United States told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Kremlin could not be reached for immediate comment. The Saudi embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Saudi Crown Prince, also known as MbS, helped to negotiate the prisoner swap in August 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, took Fogel back to the United States from Moscow on Tuesday after an unannounced stop in Russia.
Witkoff was quoted by a CNN reporter on X as saying that MbS was "instrumental as well" and that "a gentleman from Russia" by the name Kirill "had a lot to do with this".
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Saudi Arabia in 2023, said last September that he was grateful to Mohammed bin Salman for his role in the previous exchange.
Putin and Mohammed bin Salman have fostered a close personal relationship since 2015 when the prince visited Russia for the first time. Reuters reported this month that Saudi Arabia seen by Russia as possible venues for a Russia-U.S. summit.
Dmitriev, a U.S.-educated former Goldman Sachs banker, played a role in early contacts between Moscow and Trump's team when he was first elected President in 2016.
Dmitriev earlier played a role in releasing U.S. investment banker Michael Calvey from Russian prison in 2019. He called Calvey a professional investor and personally vouched for him.
Reporting by Moscow Newsroom; editing by Guy Faulconbridge
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Friday they had fired two ballistic missiles at what they described as concentrations of Saudi forces in Al-Tuwal in Jazan province, hours after Saudi civil defence issued an all-clear for the province.
President Donald Trump has told senior advisers in recent days that he may hold off on attacking Iran if the US faces no new provocations from Tehran or the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to three people familiar with the matter.
It is necessary to raise pressure on Yemen's Houthis so that they end their attacks in the region, notably on Saudi Arabia, France's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.