First senior Kremlin official to visit Washington for talks since war began

Kirill Dmitriev (C) attends a meeting on the development of Russia’s Arctic region hosted by Vladimir Putin in Murmansk, Russia, 27 March 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE / ALEXEI NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a key adviser to Vladimir Putin, is set to visit Washington later this week for talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff amid a continuing thaw in Russian-US relations, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Dmitriev, who was part of the delegation representing Russia at ceasefire talks with the US in Saudi Arabia in February, will be the first Kremlin official to visit the US since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to CNN, he and Witkoff will hold “talks on strengthening relations between the two countries as they seek to end the war”.

While both Dmitriev and the Russian Direct Investment Fund have been under US sanctions since 2022, the US government has temporarily lifted a travel ban imposed on him to allow him to travel to Washington, CNN said.

Responding to reports of his upcoming visit on X, Dmitriev wrote: “Maybe. The resistance to US–Russia dialogue is real — driven by entrenched interests and old narratives. But what if improved relations are exactly what the world needs for lasting global security and peace?”

The expected meeting between Dmitriev and Witkoff, however, comes amid reports of US President Donald Trump’s growing anger at Russia’s resistance to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Last week, Trump acknowledged that the Russians may be “dragging their feet” on a peace deal before telling NBC News that he was “very angry” at Putin and threatening Russia with fresh economic sanctions should it block a deal to end the war.

While Trump repeatedly promised to bring the war to an end within 24 hours of taking office while on the campaign trail last year, Reuters reported on Monday that his advisors were now discussing the “likelihood that the US will be unable to secure a Ukraine peace deal in the next few months” and drawing up plans to pressure both Kyiv and Moscow into peace.

Over the weekend, White House and State Department officials “acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively resisting Washington’s attempts to strike a lasting peace accord and discussed what, if any, economic or diplomatic punishments could push Russia closer to a deal”, Reuters said.