Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev is expected to visit Washington this week to meet with US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff for talks on strengthening relations between the two countries as they seek to end the war in Ukraine. This was reported by CNN, citing a US official and two sources familiar with the plans.
His visit will be the first time a senior Russian official has travelled to Washington, D.C., for talks since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and marks the next step in a marked warming in relations between the two countries since Donald Trump returned to the presidency in January.
Kirill Dmitriev is a close adviser to Putin and travelled with senior Russian officials to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in February to begin discussions on a settlement to end the war in Ukraine. He also worked with Whitkoff to free American teacher Mark Vogel from prison in Russia, which the Trump administration saw as a goodwill gesture.
The US government temporarily lifted sanctions against Dmitriev to allow the State Department to grant him a visa to come to the US, a source familiar with the matter said. Another source said the Treasury Department had received a request to temporarily suspend the sanctions.
A State Department spokesperson told CNN that” visa records are confidential under U.S. law,” so they “cannot comment on individual visa cases.” CNN reached out to the White House. A Treasury Department spokesman declined to comment to CNN.