After Russia released an American prisoner, President Trump’s special envoy praised President Vladimir V. Putin as “a humanitarian.” Our White House and national security correspondent, David E. Sanger, describes how the release comes amid Mr. Trump’s broader shift toward Russia and away from Ukraine.

The justices, for now, agreed to continue preventing the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a policy that would prohibit gender-transition medical treatments.

Mr. Hubbard, a 74-year-old teacher, was held for more than four years on what the State Department called fabricated charges.

The move buys good will with President Trump while costing the President Vladimir V. Putin — who is wanted for war crimes — little.