Kremlin negotiator travels beyond just US to push for release of frozen Russian assets, Zelensky says
Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev has been visiting not only the United States but several other countries in an effort to unlock frozen Russian assets, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a briefing on April 4.Since 2022, G7 nations have frozen roughly 300 billion euro ($310 billion) in Russian central bank assets, with the majority—around 190 billion euro ($200 billion) —held in Belgium’s Euroclear.“He (Dmitriev) was not only in the U.S.—we are monitoring the movements of our adversaries,” Zelensky said during the briefing.Dmitriev, who heads the state-controlled Russian Direct Investment Fund, met with U.S. officials in Washington on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 2 and 3.He played a role in backchannel diplomacy between Moscow and Trump when he was first elected in 2016.According to Zelensky, Moscow is pressuring foreign governments to help release the funds by offering deals involving high-tech goods such as aircraft construction.Zelensky also noted that Russia is actively trying to have sanctions lifted, but as of now both Europe and the U.S. remain firm in their stance of continuing to impose them.The EU has already begun leveraging proceeds from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. In January, Ukraine received 3 billion euros ($3.09 billion) as part of the EU's Ukraine Facility, funded through interest earned on the frozen reserves.Who is Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s Trump-whispererKirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, has become a key figure in the Kremlin’s outreach to the Trump administration. Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed the 49-year-old Kyiv native as special envoy for economic affairs in an attempt to interest Washington in joint economic…
