Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in negotiations over the release of US 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.

US 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 the Saudi prince 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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 6, 2023. (credit: SPUTNIK/ALEKSEY NIKOLSKYI/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 6, 2023. (credit: SPUTNIK/ALEKSEY NIKOLSKYI/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS)

Why was Marc Fogel in Russian prison?

Fogel, 63, was serving a 14-year sentence for drug smuggling after being caught at a Moscow airport in 2021 with a small amount of marijuana. He was freed on Tuesday and flown to Washington, where he celebrated his release with President Donald Trump at the White House.

His Russian lawyer blamed the Biden administration for its lack of support as to why Fogel was freed years after his sentencing.

"The main difficulty was the lack of interest in our client's case by the previous US administration," the co-founder of Russian law firm EPAM, Dmitry Afanasiev, told Reuters.

"This is evidenced by the last-minute designation of our client as 'wrongfully detained' only a few days before the election day and only after a public pressure campaign by the client's family and our American colleagues."

That determination clears the way for the State Department offices and federal agencies to work together to develop a plan to secure the release of a detainee.

At the time, Biden said his administration "was not giving up" on Fogel's case. Anne Fogel, the teacher's sister, told US media then: "Marc has never been prioritized...it's been very difficult for us to get our man out."

Afanasiev said Fogel had a chronic medical condition, and his health had deteriorated fast in prison. The prison's administration allowed him "relatively unrestricted access" to provide Fogel with medical attention.

"Marc is not well... he has received several hundred pain management injections while in prison," Afanasiev said.

The Kremlin could not be reached for immediate comment. The Saudi embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to a request for comment.