Putin’s Investment Envoy Dmitriev Says Talks with U.S. Officials Continue

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said on Sunday that he has continued talks with representatives of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

Speaking to Reuters on October 24, Dmitriev said he was in the United States for a long-scheduled meeting.

“We are now on the third day of discussions with representatives of the U.S. administration during our visit to the United States,” Dmitriev wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

He added, “Any attempt to pressure Russia is futile,” noting that certain forces were trying to obstruct dialogue between Moscow and Washington.

Dmitriev, a Stanford graduate and former Goldman Sachs investment banker, is among the Russian elite most familiar with the United States and is known to have close ties with several members of Trump’s team.

On Wednesday, Trump imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies, marking a major shift in U.S. policy toward Moscow amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. The move drove global oil prices up nearly 5% on Thursday, prompting some major Indian refiners to consider reducing Russian imports.

However, prices fell again on Friday as markets grew skeptical about the Trump administration’s commitment to fully enforcing the sanctions. Russia remains the world’s second-largest oil exporter.

Putin said on Thursday that Moscow would “never bow to pressure” from the United States or any other foreign power, warning of a “strong response” to any military attack on Russian territory.

Dmitriev said Russia’s economy remains “in good shape” with relatively low debt — something he believes the United States needs to understand.

In 2022, the year Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, Russia’s economy contracted by 1.4%, but rebounded with 4.1% growth in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024 — outperforming the G7 industrialized nations’ average.

The Economy Ministry projects that growth will slow to about 1.0% this year.

“We reaffirm that resolving the Ukrainian conflict is only possible by addressing its root causes,” Dmitriev said.