U.S. President Trump began talks and took every possible step to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end. But nothing worked.
Trump Twist
Following this, he was prepared to impose a 100 percent secondary tariff on the top 5 countries trading with Russia.
However, in between, on October 9, he himself signed a deal to buy diesel from Russia. As a result, Trump added a twist by saying that the top 5 countries that have been doing business with Russia so far would face the secondary tariff only if they continued trade even after the 18th of last month.
In this context, Trump was asked various questions about why Russia was not immediately put under pressure.

They have apologized
In response, on his Truth social media page, Trump posted, “Those who demanded that sanctions be imposed on Russia immediately have apologized to President Trump.
Because they were previously unaware that Trump had been negotiating with Russia over the release of Stephen Hubbard, who is very important to the United States.
If sanctions had been imposed on Russia then, these reconciliation talks would certainly have been completely derailed,” Trump wrote.
That is, Trump says that if pressure had been put on countries trading with Russia, the release of Stephen Hubbard, who was imprisoned in Russia in 2022, would not have happened.
Let’s see who Stephen Hubbard is, whom Trump is referring to...
According to a post on X by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Stephen is an American citizen. He is a retired teacher and a former member of the U.S. Air Force.
Since 2014, he has been living in the Ukrainian city of Izyum with his Ukrainian spouse.
When Russia launched its war against Ukraine in 2022, he was taken hostage.
Following talks between Russia and the United States, Stephen Hubbard has now been released.

Americans matter most to Trump
Regarding his release, Steve Witkoff said on his X page, “Today (October 21), Stephen Hubbard has been released and is returning to his homeland to meet his family.
President Trump called Stephen on the phone to check on his well-being and reiterated his firm commitment to bringing all wrongfully detained Americans back to their homeland.
Since President Trump returned to office, Stephen has now joined Robert Gilman, Ksenia Karelina, and Marc Fogel on the list of more than 110 Americans who have been released.
This release did not take place under any prisoner exchange. We thank President Putin for releasing him at President Trump’s request.
“President Trump will never abandon Americans. He will continue to fight to bring them all back to their homeland,” he said.

Another angle
The diesel deal with Russia and Stephen Hubbard’s release can also be viewed from another angle.
Stephen Hubbard’s release may also be part of the Russian diesel deal.
However, the midterm elections are scheduled to be held in the United States on November 3.
Due to the rising prices of petrol and diesel in the United States, the people there are dissatisfied with the Trump administration.
It cannot be denied that Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, aimed at increasing diesel supply and lowering prices to some extent, as well as the release of Stephen Hubbard, are a plus for Trump at election time.
