Russian and American special envoys met today for over two hours at the ‘USA House’ in Davos, Switzerland, on the sidelines of this week’s World Economic Forum. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff only said that his meeting with Putin’s Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev was “very positive.” For his part, Dmitriev stated: “The meeting was constructive. More and more people recognize the validity of the Russian position.” He did not elaborate.
Prior to the meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press today: “Kirill Dmitriev transmits information back and forth regarding the peace process in Ukraine.” When asked what would be discussed, Peskov responded: “You know that there is a core focus: trade, economic, and investment cooperation. You know that we are in favor of resuming those relations.” Dmitriev, besides functioning as a special envoy, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Direct Fund, and has been and is Putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation.
Yesterday, various Western media expressed concern that Dmitriev was even coming to Davos as the organizers of the event had excluded Russian government representatives (as well as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi). The news of his coming to meet with Trump’s delegation treated Dmitriev as an interloper, a ‘gate-crasher,’ into the proceedings. When he arrived, Dmitriev posted on his X account: “Arrived to Davos” and a poster announcing: ["Davos, Where the Globalist Discuss ]he Collapse of Globalism”](https://x.com/kadmitriev/status/2013533010751070295).
