A Russian delegation led by President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev spent Oct. 24-26 in various meetings in Washington, D.C., and Florida, briefing White House representatives on what they consider certain facts of life. On Oct. 26, Dmitriev said in a video on Telegram: “We’re clearly communicating President Putin’s position that only constructive, respectful dialogue will bear fruit. Any attempts to pressure Russia are simply pointless.” The Ukraine conflict can be resolved only through, “eradicating its root causes.”
Of some note, Dmitriev said that his team also briefed their U.S. counterparts on the frontline situation in the Ukraine conflict and, in particular, on some of the contents of Putin’s Oct. 26 meeting with the Russian General Staff. Dmitriev passed along that “the president was informed that 5,000 Ukrainian troops are encircled near Kupyansk, 5,500 near Krasnoarmeysk.” U.S. officials were briefed on the “successful testing of the completely new Burevestnik nuclear-powered missile.” He stressed: “It’s crucial that this information is communicated directly to the leadership and key officials in the U.S. presidential administration.”
Finally, matters of the actual state of affairs with the Russian economy were conveyed. “From an economic standpoint, we explained the state of the Russian economy, which is in good shape,” he said, noting that the ruble has become the “most successful currency this year,” strengthening around 40% against the U.S. dollar. Dmitriev asserted that certain parties in the West have systematically been distorting or even concealing the actual economic and military situation in Russia.
Dmitriev also spoke with CNN and Fox News. An interview done in Moscow recently was released on Oct. 24 by U.S. journalist Lara Logan, in which Dmitriev reported: “I think what’s very important and what’s very different with President Trump and his team is that there is a great desire to understand what the Russian position is, to really understand the logic, because only by understanding the logic you can either follow it or maybe modify it or suggest something.” He contrasted this with the previous administration of President Joe Biden, in which there were no discussions “on anything,” and that the absence of dialogue created misperceptions and misunderstandings. “When two of the greatest nuclear powers in the world don’t talk, it is a huge danger to the world.” There is “a big fear for many of the forces in the U.K. and the liberal forces in Europe that Russia and the U.S. would actually have a good dialogue.”
Otherwise, Dmitriev made sure to show the drawing the “Kennedy-Khrushchev World Peace Bridge” between Alaska and Chukotka, Russia, and advocated for the “Trump-Putin Tunnel,” as a central example of what the two countries could collaborate upon.
The neo-con Institute for the Study of War, founded and headed by Kimberly Kagan, took offense to Dmitriev being allowed to state Moscow’s position. The ISW’s Oct. 25 report opened with an unusually long diatribe that began: “The Kremlin is attempting to leverage the visit of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev to the United States to spread Kremlin narratives in the U.S. information space.”
