Putin’s representative will come to Washington for talks with Witkoff – CNN

Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is set to visit Washington this week.

This was reported by CNN, citing sources.

According to the report, Dmitriev will hold a meeting with Stephen Witkoff, a representative of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The two sides are expected to hold talks on “strengthening relations between the two countries in their shared goal of ending the war in Ukraine.”

In order for the U.S. State Department to issue a visa to Dmitriev, sanctions against him were temporarily lifted.

This will be the first visit by a high-ranking Russian official to Washington since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022—and, as CNN notes, it “marks another step toward a significant thaw in relations between the two countries.”

Meanwhile, Dmitriev himself confirmed that he might visit Washington this week.

“Possibly,” he commented on a post about the potential visit on the social media platform X.

“There is resistance to dialogue between the U.S. and Russia due to entrenched interests and old narratives. But what if improving relations is exactly what the world needs for long-term global security and peace?” he wrote.

It’s worth noting that, according to Western media, Dmitriev—who was born in Kyiv—is considered the Kremlin’s main informal negotiator with people close to Donald Trump.