Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow for high-level talks.

Russian news agencies say that Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency expert who faced Bitcoin fraud charges in the United States, has returned to Russia after being freed in a swap that saw Moscow’s release of American Marc Fogel.

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine followed a prisoner swap between the two nations.

PARIS – A Russian bitcoin expert at the center of a multi-country legal tussle was sentenced in Paris on Monday to five years in prison for money laundering and ordered to pay 100,000 euros (more than $120,000) in fines in a case of suspected cryptocurrency fraud. A court acquitted Alexander Vinnik of charges of extortion and association with a criminal enterprise, according to his lawyers. He was accused of being behind a 135 million-euro ($160 million) fraud campaign that used ransomware and the cryptocurrency bitcoin. French prosecutors say Vinnik was one of the creators of a malicious software called “Locky” that was delivered through email. If downloaded, the recipient’s data was encrypted and they were asked to pay ransom in bitcoin to free it.

PARIS – French prosecutors requested on Friday a 10-year jail term and a fine of 750,000 euros ($888,634) against Alexander Vinnik, who is accused of being behind a 135 million-euro ($160 million) fraud campaign that used ransomware and the cryptocurrency bitcoin. The 41-year-old Russian, who is also wanted in the United States and Russia, is facing in France charges of extortion, money laundering and criminal association. French prosecutors say Vinnik was one of the creators of the malicious software called “Locky” that was delivered through email. If downloaded, the recipient’s data was encrypted and they were asked to pay ransom in bitcoin to free it. The Americans said: it’s Vinnik... and said: ‘make sure he is being transferred to the U.S.,'” she told the court.

PARIS – The trial of a Russian man alleged to have used ransomware in a 135 million euros ($157 million) bitcoin fraud will begin Monday. Alexander Vinnik, who is also wanted in the United States and in Russia, faces up to ten years in prison at his Paris trial over charges of extortion, money laundering and criminal association. If downloaded, the recipient's data was encrypted and they were asked to pay a ransom in bitcoin to free it. The United States also wants to prosecute Vinnik, accusing him of laundering billions of dollars through BTC-e. In January after he was extradited to France, Vinnik began a 35-day hunger strike saying he wanted to be extradited first to Russia, where he faces lesser charges.