The News
Russia’s top envoy Kirill Dmitriev was reportedly visiting Washington, DC Wednesday in what would mark the first such trip by a senior Moscow official to since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Dmitriev is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, CBS News and Reuters reported.
The trip — which the Trump administration and the Kremlin have not confirmed — comes after another senior Russian official said Russia can not accept a US proposal to end the war in Ukraine “in its current form,” arguing Washington’s offer failed to address Moscow’s concerns.
Dmitriev may be trying to restart seemingly stalled negotiations between the US and Russia after Trump earlier this week said he was “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his approach to the talks.
SIGNALS
Trump’s patience may be wearing thin
The White House is reportedly growing increasingly frustrated at the Kremlin’s slowwalking of ceasefire talks. Senior Trump administration officials have discussed what to do if the US fails to secure a quick peace agreement in Ukraine, and have started drawing up plans to increase pressure on both Kyiv and Moscow, Reuters reported. If Donald Trump decides to ratchet up the pressure on Russia, the most likely method is by using economic means. There are few low-hanging fruits left for Trump to aim at, but a German sanctions expert argued that Washington could see success by targeting Russian liquid natural gas projects or introduce new sanctions on entities purchasing Russian oil.
Russia and China reaffirm ties even as US seeks to split the partnership
Dmitriev’s US trip comes after China’s foreign minister said in a visit to Moscow this week that “China and Russia are friends forever and never enemies.” US officials have said they hope outreach to the Kremlin can split Moscow away, but many analysts believe Vladimir Putin is unlikely to be persuaded to turn on Beijing. Some in Moscow may be more open to a rebalancing of the relationship: A Russian think tank in February proposed to the Kremlin possible limits on cooperation with China on infrastructure, technology, and military issues as part of a US peace deal. As of last year, however, Russia was the “weaker partner” in the relationship with Beijing, a British analyst argued, adding that their strategic partnership “hardly extends beyond the transactional.”
Russia pursues diplomacy while down playing expectations of a deal
Even as Moscow has continued to engage diplomatically with Washington, privately, President Vladimir Putin has played down the likelihood of a quick deal. The Russian leader reportedly said in a recent closed-door meeting that any peace process would be a lengthy affair, acknowledging that ending Western sanctions will not be easy. Russian officials in public, meanwhile, have offered contradictory messages about the prospects for peace: Many Western experts suspect they are stalling for time as Russian troops make progress on the battlefield. “Time is on our side now, and we will try to make the most of it,” one Russian diplomat told The Moscow Times.