Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, were engaged in discussions regarding the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison, according to a source familiar with the negotiations between Russia and the United States who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity. The Kremlin was unavailable for immediate comment, and the Saudi embassy in Moscow did not respond promptly to a request for information. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often referred to as MbS, played a significant role in facilitating the prisoner exchange that took place in August 2024.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, returned Fogel to the United States after making an unannounced visit to Russia. Witkoff was quoted by a CNN reporter on X, stating that MbS was “instrumental as well” and that a Russian individual named Kirill “had a lot to do with this.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Saudi Arabia in 2023, expressed his gratitude to Mohammed bin Salman for his involvement in the previous exchange last September. Since their first meeting in 2015, Putin and Mohammed bin Salman have developed a strong personal rapport. Recent reports from Reuters indicate that Saudi Arabia is being considered by Russia as a potential location for a summit between Russia and the United States. Dmitriev, a former Goldman Sachs banker educated in the U.S., was involved in the initial communications between Moscow and Trump’s team following his election in 2016.