Kanye West is heading to Russia: Kremlin does not rule out meeting between rapper and Putin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dodged a question about a possible meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Kanye West after the rapper announced two stadium concerts in Russia.

At the daily briefing, journalists asked Peskov whether Putin planned to meet with West. The spokesman replied:

“Good heavens, that’s not our department. This isn’t Moskoncert. This is the presidential administration,” Peskov said.

He nonetheless stopped short of explicitly ruling out such a meeting.

West, also known as Ye, is set to perform at Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg on October 10 and 11. He will be the first major Western artist to perform in Russia since the start of the “full-scale invasion of Ukraine” in February 2022. According to Russian media citing promoters, the concerts have already sold more than 100,000 tickets.

The announcement of the concerts caused a stir among Russia’s political class. Some deputies thanked West for not succumbing to “anti-Russian hysteria,” while deputy Nikolai Novichkov criticized the rapper for statements glorifying Adolf Hitler.

The controversy surrounding West stems from his praise of Hitler, a song titled “Heil Hitler,” and the sale of merchandise featuring a swastika. Several countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and Poland, banned him from performing this year. Under Russian law on the “rehabilitation of Nazism,” Holocaust denial is punishable by imprisonment.

The Russian dates are part of a broader 2026 tour that also includes performances in New Orleans, Chicago, and Jakarta. West’s decision to perform in Russia followed what The Daily Beast described as a “humiliation in Europe,” where authorities in several countries blocked his shows. The New York Times noted that the concerts would take place “amid continuing controversies surrounding an artist who in recent years has become known to the general public more for his antisemitic statements and sympathies toward Nazism than for his music.”