Senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev is expected to visit Washington this week for talks with top Trump official Steve Witkoff on strengthening Russia-US relations and ending the Ukraine war, CNN reported on 1 April.
The visit would mark the first time a senior Russian official has traveled to Washington for talks since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
A 49-year-old Kirill Dmitriev, a native of Kyiv, a graduate of Stanford and Harvard universities, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and a close associate of the Russian ruler.
Bloomberg describes Dmitriev, as well as Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov and Sergei Naryshkin, Head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, as “heavyweights”. Dmitriev also has a key role in unofficial contacts with Trump’s team. The US imposed sanctions on Kirill Dmitriev on 28 February 2022.
The US government temporarily lifted sanctions against Dmitriev to facilitate the State Department granting him a visa, one source told CNN. Another source confirmed a request was made to the Treasury Department for a temporary suspension of sanctions.
“Visa records are confidential under US law,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN, adding they “cannot comment on individual visa cases.”
Dmitriev previously traveled with top Russian officials to Riyadh in February to discuss a settlement for ending the Ukraine war. He also worked with Witkoff to secure the release of American teacher Marc Fogel from Russia, which the Trump administration praised as a goodwill gesture.
The planned visit comes shortly after Trump suggested he might issue further sanctions on Russia. In an NBC interview, Trump said he was “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump has hinted at a settlement that would allow Russia to keep Ukrainian territory it has already seized. Meanwhile, Witkoff has met with Putin twice in Moscow.
Sources familiar with Trump’s thinking told CNN the president is growing increasingly frustrated with Putin over the lack of progress in stopping the fighting. In private, Trump is openly questioning whether Putin can be trusted and he’s running out of patience with Russia.
Trump acknowledged in a Newsmax interview last week that Russia may be “dragging their feet.” Putin rejected Trump’s recent call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and added conditions—including lifting US sanctions—for a Black Sea ceasefire that had been announced by the White House.
Trump appears equally frustrated with Zelenskyy. On Sunday, he accused the Ukrainian president of “trying to back out” of a minerals deal the countries were negotiating. Trump warned Zelenskyy would face “big problems” if he didn’t sign an agreement.
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