White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump speaks before a lunch with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Cabinet Room of the White House. (AP)
Russia’s top economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has arrived in the United States for official talks just days after US President Donald Trump announced new sanctions on Moscow, CNN has learned from sources familiar with the visit.
Dmitriev, who leads the Russian sovereign wealth fund (RDIF) and serves as a Kremlin special envoy, is expected to meet Trump administration officials “to continue discussions about the US-Russia relationship,” CNN sources said.
The visit comes amid growing US frustration over Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump recently cancelled a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, calling on Moscow to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Putin said the sanctions would have little effect on Russia’s economy and described them as an attempt to pressure Moscow. “No self-respecting country ever does anything under pressure,” he said. Putin also warned Trump that the sanctions could affect global oil prices, including in the US.
Dmitriev has long supported closer economic ties between Russia and the US. Born in Soviet-era Ukraine, he studied at Harvard and Stanford, and previously worked at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs.
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After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Dmitriev was sanctioned by the US Treasury as a “close associate of Putin.” CNN reported that the US temporarily lifted his sanctions to allow him to travel to Washington, DC, in April, when he met Trump envoy Steve Witkoff.
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White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump speaks before a lunch with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Cabinet Room of the White House. (AP) 
