Russia and the US have made significant progress in discussing a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO and Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev said during a visit to Washington on April 3.

"We see that meaningful progress has already been made," he told a small gaggle of reporters in Washington, TASS reports. "For example, under the leadership of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [US President Donald] Trump, an agreement has been reached between Russia and Ukraine to essentially refrain from strikes on energy infrastructure, which is certainly the first step of this kind in de-escalating the Ukrainian conflict.".

Dmitriev, who is heading up a “parallel process” covering business talks in the ceasefire negotiations, met with his counterpart Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to break a deadlock, as the negotiations are close to collapse, according to comments made by presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview last weekend.

The Kremlin said that it would not release details of the discussion between Witkoff and Dmitriev, who nevertheless admitted in comments made on US TV that he continues to discuss the possibility of the US doing business with Russia. Dmitriev said that he discussed the prospects for Russia-US cooperation in the Arctic and the rare earth mineral industry – both areas where Putin has also suggested there are grounds for US-Russian cooperation.

"We discussed possible cooperation in the Arctic, in the rare earth mineral industry and other sectors where we can build constructive and positive relations," he told a small group of reporters in Washington, which included TASS correspondents.

Dmitriev was personally under sanctions, which had to be temporarily suspended to allow his visit to the US as the highest level representative of the Russian government to visit America since the war started in 2022.

Dmitriev said that Russia and the US have made "three steps forward" after two days of consultations in Washington.

"Yes, definitely," he said when asked by reporters whether his meetings with Washington administration officials had resulted in a step forward. "I would say that today and yesterday we made three steps forward on a large number of issues.”

The negotiation kicked off in Riyadh on February 18. As bne IntelliNews reported, the talks began the nitty gritty horse-trading at a meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on March 25. However, they seem to have immediately bogged down in details and some members of the Russian team have said they don’t see a resolution being reached this year.

Sanctions relief

Dmitriev also said that he did not discuss sanctions relief, although as part of both the talks on the 30-day ceasefire agreement to stop attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and the new Black Sea grain deal struck on March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin set conditions for both agreements to be implemented, including the lifting of some financial sanctions on Russian banks.

Specifically, Putin said the Black Sea security deal would not be implemented until sanctions on the Russian Agricultural bank (Rosselkhozbank) were lifted. Trump’s team apparently agreed to this condition, but it can’t be implemented without the cooperation of the EU, which has also sanctioned the bank. Moreover, the SWIFT messaging service, that is essential for making international bank transfers, is based in Belgium and under European law. Brussels said that the Armed Forces of Russia (AFR) would have to quit Ukrainian territory entirely before any sanctions relief could be discussed.

Surprisingly, Dmitriev said that the Kremlin was not calling for sanctions relief, as it was not needed. He repeated Putin’s claim that sanctions have been good for Russia, forcing it to innovate and invest to the benefit of the economy. He pointed out that Russia’s economy grew 4% last year, while Europe’s economic growth was around 1%. He also noted out that Russia’s external debt has fallen to 18% of GDP, while Europe’s debt was closer to 100% of GDP.

“The Russian economy has done well, and we don’t ask for any sanction relief," he said.

Putin has invited Western companies to return to Russia, but has also made it clear that they can come only on the Kremlin’s terms and also insisted that they will also have to invest into the newly occupied territories in Ukraine. Representatives of the American business community have expressed their readiness to occupy the niches left by the European companies that withdrew from the Russian market, Dmitriev said.

"And we see that such ideological restrictions, which exist among the EU countries, can actually allow American companies to occupy a number of niches, but again, only where it is useful for Russia, if the Russian government approves this and joint ventures with Russian companies are created, because, of course, the priority is the creation of joint ventures with Russian companies," he told Russian journalists after his talks with Witkoff.

Progress

Dmitriev said the idea that Russia was preparing to invade Europe was “crazy” and dismissed what he called “fake narratives” circulating on Russia’s expansionary ambitions.

"There are lots of false and fake narratives circulating such as Russia possibly going into Europe. I mean that’s just a crazy idea," he told Fox News. "The problem is there are a lot of crazy people and they discuss it together."

Dmitriev said that “significant” progress has been made and called both Putin and Trump “historical leaders” who had brought about the first de-escalation in the conflict in the last three years. He also said the Kremlin was focused on avoiding WWIII.

"We are having good discussions. Our diplomatic people are also discussing possible outcomes. But there is no question that President Trump's team not only stopped World War III from happening, but also had already achieved sizable progress on the Ukraine resolution," he said on Fox News.

He went on to highlight that the key point was that talks have now begun, as there were no negotiations between the Kremlin and the White House during the Biden administration.

"We would like to point out that President Trump’s administration, namely, the key members of his administration, are focused on resolving the entire range of issues related to Russia-US relations. Undoubtedly, they are focused on resolving geopolitical issues; they hear Russia’s position on many issues," he told TASS in Washington.

"What makes President Trump's administration different is that, unlike President [Joe] Biden, it hears Russia's position, understands Russia's concerns," the envoy said.

"There are certainly disagreements on various points, but there is a process, there is a dialogue, which, as we understand, will help overcome these disagreements.".

Dmitriev said the Russian negotiating team was listening carefully to US demands which are focused on putting Ukraine into a “strong position” but would act according to Russia’s national interests.

He admitted that he talked about business with Witkoff, but added he discussed not only economic and investment issues, but also the restoration of communication between the two countries.

"It seems to me that this is important. And as you know, I spent a lot of time earlier in the US, among other countries. And we believe that it is [now necessary] to be on the same page with the Americans, to understand their concerns, to understand what they care about, but at the same time to act firmly based on Russia's interests, on what would benefit Russia. This is certainly extremely important," he said.

"So it is not only about issues of economy and investment, but also issues of consistent efforts to restore relations between Russia and the US," Dmitriev said. "We can see absolutely clearly that the administration of Trump, unlike the administration of President [Joe] Biden, is focused on solving problems. They are very respectful, they understand Russia’s position, they ask a lot of questions, they find compromises. This is a very constructive spirit," he told Russian journalists.

"Undoubtedly, there is positive momentum in relations. It will take some more meetings in order for us to resolve all differences," the envoy said. "But the main thing is that we see that President Trump's administration, its key representatives certainly have a positive, constructive attitude."

The dates for the next round of talks between Russia and the US will be determined soon, according to Dmitriev. Other members of the team have suggested a third round will be held in Saudi Arabia in April. Trump has not set a timeline but has said he wants to see a deal done by Easter.