The Kremlin is reportedly assembling a high-profile negotiating team to engage in direct discussions with the United States to bring an end to the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to sources familiar with the matter.
While the identities of all team members have not been disclosed, sources indicate that the delegation will include senior political, intelligence, and economic officials.
Among them is a key Russian figure who played a pivotal role in a recent prisoner exchange with the U.S.
A close adviser to President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, is expected to take charge of discussions aimed at restoring economic ties between the two nations as part of broader peace negotiations.
Dmitriev recently collaborated with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to facilitate the release of American teacher Marc Fogel from Russian detention, according to sources.
“There’s a gentleman from Russia. His name is Kirill, and he had a lot to do with this. He was important. He was an important interlocutor, bridging the two sides,” Witkoff told CNN on Wednesday.
Dmitriev, who heads Russia’s sanctioned sovereign wealth fund, has been a vocal supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Within Russia’s political elite, he has claimed that Trump’s electoral success “shows that ordinary Americans are tired of the unprecedented lies, incompetence, and malice of the Biden administration.”
He further stated that Trump’s victory “opens up new opportunities for resetting relations between Russia and the United States.”
Born in Soviet-era Ukraine, Dmitriev studied in the United States at Harvard and Stanford before working as a consultant at McKinsey and an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
His inclusion in the Kremlin’s negotiating team suggests that Russia will likely prioritize the lifting of Western sanctions and the restoration of economic relations in the upcoming talks.
Dmitriev has long served as a key contact between Russian officials and both Trump administrations, advocating for stronger U.S.-Russia ties and participating in discreet back-channel communications.
However, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, which labeled him a “close associate of Putin” and extended sanctions to his family.
