After US President Donald Trump imposed serious new sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, Putin's special representative Kirill Dmitriev traveled to Washington. However, his mission failed with no official results announced by either the Russian or American sides.
Dmitriev appeared on American TV calling for better US-Russian relations and a diplomatic resolution of the so-called Ukrainian crisis, but top American officials refused to engage. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Besent were not in Washington during Dmitriev’s visit. Besent dismissed Dmitriev as a propagandist, urging journalists not to take his statements seriously and thus reducing the significance of the Russian envoy’s mission.
There were also no public outcomes from Dmitriev’s contacts with Trump’s special representative Steve Withoff, who is currently not involved in preparing meetings between Trump and Putin. Dmitriev's attempt to organize meetings between Russian Duma deputies and US congress members also failed: only one congresswoman agreed to a public meeting, which gained notoriety when Dmitriev presented chocolates and quote books featuring the Russian president.
The mission's failure was likely due to Russia's misreading of American administration processes and the US’s declining interest in informal contacts with Russian envoys. According to the author, Western sanctions threaten Russia's budget revenues and may jeopardize the continuation of military operations against Ukraine.
The author notes that the failed mission could be used by Dmitriev’s rivals in the Kremlin to undermine his position with Putin. Meanwhile, US changes in the approach to summit preparations signal a desire to formalize any agreements, while Russia continues to avoid binding commitments.
