Russia’s top economic negotiator on Sunday slammed “titanic attempts” to thwart dialogue with the United States as he visited the country for talks with American officials after Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow’s oil companies.
The visit comes as the US President Donald Trump voiced increasing frustration at Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and his refusal to agree a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.
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Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who arrived in the United States on Friday, said Moscow was “committed to constructive dialogue” with the US.
“We’re seeing titanic attempts to disrupt any dialogue between Russia and the US, and to spread disinformation,” Dmitriev said in a video posted on Telegram.
Dmitriev met Trump administration officials on Friday and Saturday, a Russian source familiar with the talks told AFP. Talks were expected to continue on Sunday.
Earlier this week, Trump shelved talks with Putin in Budapest, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting.
In an interview with a Hungarian YouTube channel Ultrahang published Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington had not proposed “any new meetings or conversations” between both countries’ top diplomats since their phone call on Monday.
“And I did not raise the issue, because the entire initiative was coming from the United States. And we would be ready to move as the Americans feel comfortable for themselves,” Lavrov said, speaking English.
Asked about the leaders’ summit, he said: “It’s up to those who initiated the process.”
The Kremlin’s envoy Dmitriev met with Republican Congresswoman for Florida Anna Paulina Luna.
In a post on X on Sunday, he said Luna was organising “a meeting between US Congress members and the Russian Duma to encourage parliamentary dialogue”.
In the Telegram video message, Dmitriev — a former Goldman Sachs banker and Stanford graduate — said such a meeting would be held “in the near future”.
Russia has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Its latest overnight attack on Kyiv killed three people and wounded dozens according to the Ukrainian authorities.
AFP