Russian top officials will visit Washington for talks this week

Russian top officials will visit Washington for talks this week

A high-ranking Russian negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, will probably visit Washington this week to meet with the high-ranking Trump official Steve Witkoff. The aim of the meeting is to strengthen relationships between the two countries, while looking for ways, the war in Ukraine to end as a US official and two with the plans. report.

first visit to a Russian office since the invasion

This visit is the first of a high -ranking Russian official in Washington, D.C. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

dmitriev's role and negotiations

dmitriev, a closer advisor to Vladimir Putin, traveled to Riad, Saudi Arabia with leading Russian officials in February, to start discussions about a settlement of the Ukraine War. He also worked with Witkoff to free the American teacher Marc Fogel from Russia, which was recognized by the Trump administration as a gesture of goodwill.

Sanctions for a visa ceremony

The US government temporarily highlighted the sanctions against Dmitriev in order to enable the Foreign Ministry to grant a visa for its entry into the USA, one of the sources reported. Another source stated that an application for temporary suspension of the sanctions was submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

American government comments on visa applications

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry announced that "visad data is confidential in accordance with US law", which is why they "cannot make any comments on individual cases".

dmitriev's background and sanctions

dmitriev, who enjoyed his training at Harvard University, is the CEO of the Russian RDIF sovereign fund and was sanctioned with Putin by bidding administration because of the invasion in Ukraine. The Ministry of Finance said in 2022 that "Putin and his inner circle have long been dependent on RDIF and DMITRIEV to obtain capital abroad, including in the United States".

Trump's changing attitude to Russia

The visit takes place just a few days after an interview by Trump with NBC, in which he indicated that he may impose further sanctions against Russia. He expressed that he was "annoyed" by President Putin after he had criticized his Ukrainian counterpart Wolodymyr Selenskyj.

criticism of Selenskyj and new military aid

Despite his current criticism, Trump reversed the attitude of his predecessor government under Joe Biden in relation to the war in Ukraine. The previous administration introduced sharp sanctions against Moscow because of the 2022 invasion and made military support available to Ukraine in billions. Trump, on the other hand, does not offer new military aid and calls for an end point of the conflict, sometimes even imitating the Kremlin language pattern and indicating a settlement in which Russia keeps control of already occupied Ukrainian territory.

annoyance of lack of progress

Witkoff has already met Putin in Moscow twice. Nevertheless, Trump seems to be increasingly frustrated by the Russian president, since no progress in the end of the fights is made. According to three people who are familiar with Trump's recent thoughts about Putin, Trump privately questioned whether Putin is trustworthy, and he has increasingly lost patience with Russia.

Putin's conditions for an armistice

Trump admitted that Russia may be "stepping on the spot". Putin, on the other hand, rejected Trump's recent call to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and added conditions-including the lifting of the US sanctions-for an armistice in the Black Sea, after the recent negotiations and the moratoriums announced on the part of the White House.

allegations against Selenskyj

Trump, on the other hand, is also frustrated by Selenskyj. On Sunday, he accused the Ukrainian president of "trying to get out of" the mineral agreement with the two countries, and added that Selenskyj would get "big problems" if he did not sign the agreement.