The Russian Kremlin’s high-ranking envoy Kirill Dmitriev is expected to come to Washington this week to meet with President Donald Trump’s top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, for discussions on strengthening the relationship between the two countries, according to an American official and two sources familiar with the plans cited by CNN.
This is the first visit of a high-ranking Russian official to Washington since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and marks a new step in the warming relations between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to power in January, according to News.ro. Kirill Dmitriev is a close advisor of Putin and traveled with senior Russian officials to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February to begin discussions on a deal to end the war in Ukraine.He has also worked with Witkoff to secure the release of American professor Marc Fogel from Russia, which the Trump administration has welcomed as a gesture of goodwill. The US government temporarily lifted sanctions against Dmitriev to allow the State Department to grant him a visa to come to the US, one of the sources told CNN. Another source said that a request was made to the Treasury Department for a temporary suspension of sanctions. A State Department spokesperson told CNN that “visa records are confidential in accordance with US law,” so they cannot comment on individual visa cases. CNN contacted the White House, but has not yet received a response, and a Treasury Department spokesperson declined CNN’s request for comment.A representative for Dmitriev also declined to comment. Educated at Harvard, Dmitriev is the CEO of the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF and was sanctioned by the Biden administration – along with Putin – due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Treasury Department wrote in 2022 that “Putin and his inner circle of friends have long relied on RDIF and Dmitriev to accumulate funds abroad, including in the United States.” The visit is scheduled just days after Trump, in an interview with NBC, suggested that he may impose additional sanctions against Russia and declared that he is “angry” with Russian President Vladimir Putin for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski. Despite recent criticisms, Trump has reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s position on the war in Ukraine. The previous administration imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow for its 2022 invasion and provided billions of dollars in military support to Kiev. Trump is not providing any new military aid and has called for an end to the fighting, sometimes echoing Kremlin viewpoints.He has even suggested a deal where Russia would retain control of the already seized Ukrainian territory. Witkoff has met with Putin twice in Moscow. However, Trump seems to be increasingly frustrated with the Russian president due to the lack of progress in stopping the fighting. In private, Trump openly wonders if Putin can be trusted and has said he is running out of patience with Russia, three people familiar with the president’s recent thoughts on his Russian counterpart have said. Trump admitted in an interview with Newsmax last week that Russia could be “stalling for time.” Not only did Putin reject Trump’s recent call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, but he also added conditions – including the lifting of American sanctions – for a cessation of hostilities in the Black Sea, after last week’s talks ended and a moratorium was announced by the White House.On Tuesday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov conveyed that they cannot accept the US proposals to end the war in Ukraine in their current form, as they do not address the issues that Moscow sees as the cause of the conflict. Remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov suggest that Moscow and Washington have not yet been able to bridge the differences mentioned by President Vladimir Putin more than two weeks ago, when he said the US proposals should be revised.But Trump is just as frustrated with Zelenskiy. On Sunday, he accused the Ukrainian President of “trying to back out” of the minerals agreement the two countries have been trying to negotiate, adding that Zelenskiy would face “big problems” if he does not sign an agreement. Ukraine will work with the United States to reach a mutually acceptable text on a minerals agreement that the two countries can sign, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sibieha said on Tuesday. He said at a press conference that a round of consultations has already taken place on a new mineral agreement and that an agreement that provides for a strong presence of American companies in Ukraine will contribute to the country’s security infrastructure.
The process will continue and we will work with our American colleagues to reach a mutually acceptable text for signing,” Sibieha said, as cited by Reuters.