Marc Fogel, a 63-year-old American teacher held in Russia for over three years, returned to the U.S. on February 11, 2025, due to negotiations led by President Trump. This coincided with the news of an American citizen's release from Belarus, part of a broader U.S. strategy to secure the freedom of detainees abroad. Both developments signal potential diplomatic thawing between the U.S., Russia, and Belarus. Fogel, expressing gratitude, hopes this marks a turning point in U.S.-Russia relations, possibly facilitating discussions on the Ukraine conflict, while the Biden administration recently declared his detention wrongful.