By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW (Reuters -Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, on Friday confirmed that he was in the United States for a long-planned meeting, proof he said that U.S.-Russia dialogue continued.
“This meeting of mine had been planned quite a while ago, and the American side did not cancel it, despite a number of recent unfriendly steps. We will continue the dialogue,” Dmitriev told Reuters.
U.S. President Donald Trump hit Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions this week to press the Kremlin leader to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Trump spoke to Putin last week and said he planned to meet Putin soon, but Trump later cancelled that summit saying it could take place another time.
“The Russia–U.S. dialogue will continue, but it is certainly only possible if Russia’s interests are taken into account and treated with respect,” Dmitriev said.
He declined to say who he was meeting and predicted that the U.S. oil sanctions would backfire.
“They will only lead to gasoline costing more at American gas stations,” said Dmitriev.
Citing sources with knowledge of the visit, CNN reported earlier on Friday that Dmitriev was expected to meet Trump administration officials “to continue discussions about the U.S.-Russia relationship”.
Axios reported that Dmitriev would meet Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami on Saturday. The state TASS news agency quoted Dmitriev as saying he would also meet other people he did not name.
Dmitriev, who has developed a good working relationship with Witkoff, declined to say whether arrangements for a new Trump-Putin meeting would be on the agenda of his talks.
(Reporting by Gleb BryanskiEditing by Andrew Osborn)
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