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Kirill Dmitriev: The Sanctioned Fund Chief at the Center of U.S.-Russia Deals

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Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has spent 2025 and 2026 as what CNN calls “a prominent Kremlin advocate for closer economic cooperation” with the United States, even though the U.S. Treasury sanctioned him and his fund in February 2022. In mid-October 2026, CNBC reported, he greeted Trump’s waiver of the Graham Act’s Russia sanctions as “an important and truly historic moment.”

Where it stands: Dmitriev is still on the OFAC sanctions list as downloaded on October 26, and he has kept appearing at the table. ABC News published a pool photo identifying him at the September 5, 2026 Kremlin meeting between Putin and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Summarizing an October 23 New York Times report, Raw Story wrote that Putin “discussed the project” of Alaska’s Polar LNG with the envoys in September. The Times, per Raw Story, found no sign that Witkoff or Kushner knew Polar LNG had ties to Novatek. In the coverage reviewed for this article, no outlet reported Dmitriev raising Polar LNG by name.

The Polar LNG allegations come from its former CEO, Joel Riddle, and all of the companies involved dispute them. Polar LNG called Riddle a “disgruntled employee” who was terminated, and it told the FT that its development work is fully compliant with U.S. law. Novatek told the Financial Times its role was not conditioned on sanctions being lifted. Tech Wave, which is Polar LNG’s parent in Abu Dhabi, says the Russian company holds no equity in it. One White House official, speaking to the FT, said the concept had only been “broadly and briefly mentioned.” No U.S. authority has announced any finding of wrongdoing.

Who is Kirill Dmitriev?

CNN has described Dmitriev as born in Soviet-era Ukraine, educated at Harvard and Stanford, and a former McKinsey consultant and Goldman Sachs investment banker. He runs RDIF, which Treasury says was set up in 2011 by order of Dmitry Medvedev, then Russia’s president, and Vladimir Putin, then prime minister.

Treasury’s own description of him is blunt. Its designation notice calls him a close Putin ally who “has leveraged his ties to universities and organizations in the United States to serve as a representative for the Russian president to American institutions.” Of the fund, Treasury wrote that “RDIF is widely considered a slush fund for President Vladimir Putin.” Those are the department’s characterizations, made when it imposed the sanctions.

The 2022 Treasury sanctions on RDIF

On February 28, 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated RDIF, its management company and a subsidiary, and it designated Dmitriev personally under Executive Order 14024 as a leader or senior official of the Russian government. Treasury said Putin’s inner circle “have long relied on RDIF and Dmitriev to raise funds abroad, including in the United States.”

In practical terms, Reuters has explained, the sanctions “effectively bar American citizens and companies from dealing with them.” His trips to the United States have therefore relied on special arrangements, according to CNN and Reuters.

A sanctioned envoy in Washington and Miami

His first U.S. trip of this period came in April 2025. Kyiv Post reported it was the first by a senior Russian official to the U.S. since travel sanctions followed the 2022 invasion, and, citing CNN sources, that U.S. authorities temporarily lifted the sanctions on him and issued a visa.

He came back in late October 2025, within days of Treasury’s sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, according to CNN. Reuters later reported that he met Witkoff and Kushner in Miami at the end of that month, that “the meeting resulted in a 28-point plan for ending the war,” according to two people familiar with it, and that the administration “issued a special waiver to allow his entry.” Reuters said it was unclear whether Russian demands he carried were written into the plan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that the plan drew on Russian input but was “also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.” Dmitriev, Witkoff and Kushner did not respond to Reuters.

His contacts with Trump’s circle predate this term. Reuters noted that the Mueller report described a 2017 meeting between Dmitriev and Erik Prince, and that Dmitriev worked with Kushner on ventilator deliveries during the pandemic. Reuters also recorded that the Mueller team did not establish coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016. Our comparison with the Mueller probe covers that history.

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When Dmitriev’s reported role Reported by
Feb. 2022 Sanctioned with RDIF U.S. Treasury
Feb. 2025 Riyadh talks; Arctic raised Politico via High North News
Apr. 2025 Washington visit; sanctions lifted temporarily Kyiv Post, citing CNN
Aug. 2025 Witkoff’s Moscow trip; Anchorage delegation Reuters; CNN
Oct. 2025 Tunnel proposal; Miami meeting Al Jazeera; Reuters
Sept. 2026 At Kremlin envoy meeting ABC News
Oct. 2026 Praised Graham Act waiver CNBC

Kirill Dmitriev’s pitch: energy, the Arctic and a tunnel

From the start, his message has been commercial. After the February 2025 talks in Riyadh, he told Politico that the two sides had touched on some “specific areas of cooperation,” including the Arctic, High North News reported. Reuters reported, citing three sources, that he joined Putin’s August 2025 meeting with Witkoff in Moscow, where sources said energy deals were floated; a Dmitriev spokesperson declined to comment. A photo carried by CNN shows him at a news conference at the August 2025 Anchorage summit, and afterward he told CNN: “We will continue building US-Russia relations going forward despite lots of resistance to this.”

In October 2025 he proposed a rail and cargo tunnel under the Bering Strait. Al Jazeera reported that he said the link would “unlock joint resource exploration” between the countries. Trump called the idea “interesting” at a White House meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who replied that he was “not happy with this idea.”

In 2026 he has tied that pitch to concrete U.S. moves. Newsweek wrote that he has presented the Russian diesel arrangement as a possible template for broader economic cooperation; our explainer on the diesel deal covers its terms. And after the October 16 order, CNBC quoted his description of the Graham Act suspension as historic. Our report on the Graham Act waiver covers what it switched off, and the September envoy meeting is the subject of our look at Putin’s sessions with Witkoff and Kushner.

What the record does not show

Western reporting reviewed for this article does not tie Dmitriev to Polar LNG, Novatek’s proposed stake, or any money transfer described in the FT and New York Times stories. Reuters said it could not determine what Russian demands, if any, he brought to Miami. The White House has not published an account of his meetings with Trump’s envoys. What is documented is narrower: a 2022 Treasury designation that still appears on the SDN list; U.S. visits in April and October 2025 that were reportedly made possible by temporary relief or a waiver; and a steady public push for U.S.-Russian business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Kirill Dmitriev?

Kirill Dmitriev is the chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a state sovereign wealth fund, and Putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation, as ABC News describes him. CNN reports he was educated at Harvard and Stanford and worked at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs.

Is Kirill Dmitriev under U.S. sanctions?

Yes. The Treasury Department designated him and RDIF under Executive Order 14024 in February 2022. CNN and Reuters reported that the U.S. temporarily lifted or waived sanctions to allow his 2025 visits.

What did Kirill Dmitriev say about the Graham Act waiver?

CNBC reported that he described the partial suspension of the Graham Act as a historic moment and said U.S.-Russia economic dialogue would continue.

Is Kirill Dmitriev linked to Polar LNG?

No outlet reviewed for this article reported Dmitriev discussing Polar LNG by name. The New York Times reported that Putin raised the Alaska proposal with the two U.S. envoys during their September 2026 visit, with no indication the envoys knew of its Novatek ties.

Sources

This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.

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