President Donald Trump is now allowing American companies to buy diesel fuel from Russia.
That will transfer millions of dollars — Reuters estimates $400 million — to a country whose economy is reeling from its four-year war with Ukraine.
Trump has also waived a new round of sanctions that were set to take effect against Russia, sparing the country further economic pain.
Trump has called on Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries (Russia’s main source of revenue) and is now pressuring Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire that would effectively hand over the territory that Russia has seized during the four-year war.
In short, Trump has made an abrupt pivot in U.S. foreign policy to position Washington more closely with Moscow — and against a country that wants to be part of the western family of democracies.
What has this brought the United States? On Wednesday, it brought home an American who has been held in Russia for four years — Stephen Hubbard, 74, of Michigan, who was snatched in Ukraine in the early days of the Russian invasion in 2022.
That is great news for Hubbard, his family and the United States generally. However, here’s the catch: There are still at least five other Americans still being held prisoner in Russia. One of those is Chuck Zimmerman, who grew up in the Roanoke Valley, graduated from Salem High School and still has family here. Zimmerman’s case is unusual in that he was not seized in Russia; he was taken prisoner in international waters while sailing in the Black Sea and taken to a Russian port. He’s now been held for more than a year and is said to be in “deteriorating” health due to dental problems.
With all that the United States is now doing for Russia, shouldn’t it be able to get more than one prisoner?
That’s a question that is now being asked — by Zimmerman’s family, by the advocacy group that is representing the family and by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia.
The nonprofit group Global Reach released a statement Wednesday from Zimmerman’s sister, Robin Stultz, who lives in the Roanoke Valley: “I am overjoyed for Stephen Hubbard and his family, but Americans shouldn’t have to be freed one at a time. If our government can make a diesel deal with Moscow, it can bring my brother home, too. Chuck served this country in the Navy, and his freedom is easily worth that cost.”
In an interview, Kieran Ramsey, the chief investigative officer for Global Reach, faulted the Trump administration for not pushing the Russians harder for a full-scale prisoner release: “They’re getting diesel, they’re having sanctions lifted, but we only brought home one hostage. These piece-by-piece negotiations reward hostage taking. Every single release tells Moscow to hold onto the rest as a bargaining chip. That’s the game Russia is playing. Put all five names before Putin at once and none of this waiting-in-line thing.”
In his weekly media availability, Warner said it was “outrageous” that Russia released just a single prisoner and said he was “disgusted” at the flattery that the American envoy Steve Witkoff heaped on the Russian president.
The Washington Post reported that Witkoff went to St. Petersburg, Russia, to retrieve Hubbard and told Putin: “You are a humanitarian, sir. I salute that, and I commend you, and I thank you again.”
Warner said: “I was disgusted . . . .This is a man who has butchered hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and, for that matter, butchered hundreds of thousands of Russians, sending them into this illegal war against Ukraine, a war that the president is now supporting Russia against the wishes of Congress.” Warner went on to say: “This administration plays footsie with Russia while still refusing to actually firmly require that the Americans held in Russia . . . get returned. It’s outrageous. I’d love to hear the Zimmerman family themselves comment on whether they agree with Steve Witkoff that Putin is a humanitarian. He’s anything but that.”
So why isn’t the U.S. able to get more Americans out of Russia? Is Trump simply getting rolled by Putin? If Trump’s approach to Russia isn’t working, what would?
David Ewald, who teaches a class in hostage diplomacy at the University of Oregon and is familiar with the Zimmerman case, cautions that securing the release of any individual prisoner is always complicated by other issues. “At a country-to-country level, it becomes about trade policy, it becomes about the war,” he said. Is it more fruitful for the U.S. to push for a large-scale release, which might wind up getting tied to those other issues, or to pursue cases one by one? Trump’s approach, he said, “feels very Trumpy — he senses a deal could happen somewhere and just goes for it” without seeking a larger accord.
On the one hand, “President Trump has brought home more Americans at a faster pace than any president in history,” said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer for the nonprofit Global Reach group, in an emailed statement. The State Department on Wednesday put that number at “more than 110” — from multiple countries around the world.
On the other hand, Trump’s approach to Russia is decidedly unorthodox — and about 360 degrees removed from how Ronald Reagan once dealt with what he called “the evil empire” of the Soviet Union.
Trump’s recent decision not to impose additional sanctions under the recently passed Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act caught many by surprise, especially since the legislation had been a key priority of Trump’s ally, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina.
Trump on Wednesday defended his approach to Russia, and suggested his decision to waive those congressionally mandated sanctions hastened the release of the most recent American prisoner. “If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site.
The Trump administration has also notably not designated any Americans held in Russia as being “wrongfully detained.” The administration has applied that legal designation to Americans held in other countries, but not Russia — the most recent appears to be Yuolin Chen, a Massachusetts seismologist who was arrested in China earlier this year when he visited his mother. Others whom the Trump administration has designated as “wrongfully detained” are Americans held, or formerly held, in China, Iran and Venezuela. None, though, in Russia.
The decision to avoid giving Americans held in Russia that label appears to be an intentional strategy on the part of the U.S. to build better relations with Russia. However, Lebson’s statement questions whether it’s working: “When former Marine Robert Gilman was released near death in August, the Russians made it clear that they only consider releasing Americans after they have been designated.” Hubbard, who had been designated as “wrongfully detained” by the Biden administration, was the last American held in Russia with that official label.
Global Reach has called for the Trump administration to designate all the Americans being held in Russia as “wrongfully detained.” Otherwise, Ramsey said, Russia can say “we only have one ‘wrongfully detained’ prisoner, so we’ve given you him.” He contends the lack of a designation conveys that the United States doesn’t care about those Americans.
I have asked the State Department in the past (including Wednesday) about why Secretary of State Marco Rubio hasn’t designated Zimmerman and other Americans being held in Russia as “wrongfully detained” and have never gotten what I feel is a straight answer. The official State Department response Wednesday was that “this Administration will continue to work for the release of all Americans unjustly detained in Russia.”
The challenge with Russia, say those who follow the country’s policies, is that Russia has a historical practice of “collecting” prisoners who can be used as bargaining chips in some future situation. “That is so typical of them,” said Mark N. Katz, professor emeritus of government and politics at George Mason University and the Schar School who specializes in Russian policy. “They just basically understand that Western societies are attached to their citizens and they see an opportunity.” Russians, he said, only release those prisoners if “they’re getting something in return.”
Even then, he said, Russia sets a high price for each prisoner. “All that the Trump administration is doing to improve relations with Russia, whatever you think of that, they just let go of one person,” Katz said. “It’ll be a different set of concessions required for Mr. Zimmerman, I’m afraid.”
Katz said the best thing for Zimmerman’s family and supporters to do is to bring as much attention to his plight as possible. That will keep pressure on the administration. “It’ll take publicity,” he said, to create a situation where “the White House gets some degree of kudos” for securing his release.
In another post Wednesday, Trump said he personally asked for Hubbard’s release in a telephone conversation with Putin last week. Of course, that raises the question why Trump didn’t ask for all the prisoners to be released.
Trump also posted: “The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia. There was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden Administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin.”
Critics, such as Warner, might say there is implicitly a swap — American support for Russia against Ukraine resulting in a single prisoner being released. Trump is not wrong about the timeline, though. Hubbard was arrested while Biden was president and didn’t get released until now, when Trump was president. However, that explanation will not work with the Zimmerman case. Zimmerman was arrested when Trump was president and is still being held.
Timeline of Zimmerman’s case
For more on the Zimmerman case, see this story that details his capture.
1985: Chuck Zimmerman graduates from Salem High School. Later joins U.S. Navy and becomes an electrician.
July 2024: Zimmerman, now retired from the Navy, sets sail from New Bern, N.C. in a sailboat, intending to go to New Zealand, where he has found a job as an electrician.
September 2024: Zimmerman arrives in Europe and spends time traveling.
June 15, 2025: Zimmerman reaches the eastern Mediterranean. He intends to sail through the Red Sea but delays that voyage due to war between Israel and Iran. Instead, he sails into the Black Sea.
June 17, 2025: Zimmerman texts his sister, Robin Stultz, that he has been intercepted by the Russian Navy in international waters and is being directed to a Russian port for an “inspection.”
June 18, 2025: Zimmerman texts his sister he will likely be fined for illegally entering the country (even though the Russian Navy forced him to enter) and be released.
June 19, 2025: Zimmerman texts his sister that he is being taken to jail. It is later learned that during a search of his boat, Russians found a pistol and a rifle that he had for protection at sea. Based on that, Russia charged him with weapons smuggling.
October 2025: A Russian court finds Zimmerman guilty and sentences him to five years in prison.
March 17, 2026: Rep. Ben Cline and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine send a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to ask that he designate Zimmerman as “wrongfully detained.”
June 2026: Global Reach, a group that advocates for prisoners held overseas, says that Zimmerman’s health is “deteriorating.”
Aug. 12, 2026: A group of 16 senators, all Democrats, sends a letter to Rubio asking him to designate all the Americans held in Russia as “wrongfully detained.”
Oct. 21, 2026: Russia releases the only American designated as “wrongfully detained” but still holds at least five others, including Zimmerman.
Statements from Virginia lawmakers in Washington
Three Virginia members of Congress have been involved in trying to secure Zimmerman’s release. Here’s what they said Wednesday after Russia released an American, but not Zimmerman:
“Thanks to President Trump, an American citizen is finally free from a Russian prison and is returning home. This release and many more should have happened years ago. I applaud this Administration’s efforts to successfully negotiate, put America first, and ensure the safety of every citizen both at home and abroad. My office has been working tirelessly to ensure the release of Chuck Zimmerman, and I will not give up until he is back home and reunited with his family.”
— Rep. Ben Cline
“There are five remaining U.S. nationals, including Virginian Chuck Zimmerman, who are currently unjustly detained in Russia. They should be reunited with their families as quickly as possible, and I’ll keep working with my colleagues to urge the Trump Administration to negotiate their releases.”
— Sen. Tim Kaine
“This administration plays footsie with Russia while still refusing to actually firmly require that the Americans held in Russia . . . get returned.”
— Sen. Mark Warner
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