Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, will meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on Saturday in Miami, Florida, U.S. media reported.
The meeting comes days after Trump cancelled his plan to meet Putin in Budapest, Hungary and the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, the two largest Russian oil producers, in a bid to press for a ceasefire deal on Ukraine.
Dmitriev said on social media X that his visit was “planned a while ago based on an invitation from the U.S. side.”
The Russian envoy said on CNN on Friday that the sanctions, the first during Trump’s second term, would not be a big issue for Russia but lead to higher gasoline prices in the United States, reiterating Putin’s position that Russia will never yield to pressure.
Dmitriev also said he believes a Trump-Putin summit will happen but “probably at a later date.”
“The Russia-U.S. dialogue will continue, but it is certainly only possible if Russia’s interests are taken into account and treated with respect,” he said.
Following a phone call with Putin and a White House closed-door meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, Trump urged Russia and Ukraine to “stop where they are” to end their conflict.
On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, and called for “an immediate ceasefire,” adding that the White House was prepared to take further actions if necessary.
Also on Wednesday, Trump confirmed he had cancelled his meeting with Putin in Hungary, saying it “didn’t feel right to me.”
The United States and its allies have imposed multiple rounds of financial and trade sanctions on Russia since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, targeting Russian banks, defense industries and energy exports. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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