A Kremlin envoy on Thursday praised the Trump administration for hearing “Russia’s position on many issues” after two days of meetings in Washington that marked the first time in years that a senior Russian official had traveled to the United States for talks with American counterparts.
The envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, met in the White House on Wednesday with President Trump’s senior aide on Russia negotiations, Steve Witkoff, according to a U.S. official in Washington with knowledge of the talks.
Mr. Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and President Vladimir V. Putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation, said he held further meetings on Thursday “with key members of the Trump administration,” without identifying them.
He said he had discussed economic matters and claimed there was “a great desire by American companies to return to Russia.” He also said he had discussed “the possibility of cooperation on rare earth metals, in the Arctic and in various other sectors.” And he said Russia was working to restore direct flights to the United States, which banned Russian planes from its airspace after Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Of course, there are disagreements on various points,” Mr. Dmitriev, speaking in Russian, told reporters in Washington, according to a video of his remarks distributed by a Russian news agency. “But there is a process and a dialogue that, in our understanding, will help overcome these differences.”
U.S. officials did not immediately comment on the substance of the talks.
Mr. Dmitriev arrived in Washington with two aides on Tuesday, and he and Mr. Witkoff met in the White House on Wednesday afternoon, said the U.S. official. The two officials continued talking in the evening.