Putin's emissary to the USA: for what purpose did the Kremlin delegate Dmitriev to Washington
On Sunday, October 26, in an interview with CBS News, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev a "Russian propagandist", commenting on his words about the alleged lack of damage to the Russian economy from sanctions. "I think Russia will feel the effects (of the restrictions - Focus) immediately. I can tell you that we are already seeing how India has completely stopped buying Russian oil. Many Chinese refineries have stopped," he said.
Bessent then called Dmitriev a "Russian propagandist" and added that he cannot talk about the real impact of sanctions on the Russian economy. "Of course, the Russian economy is a wartime economy. Growth is practically zero. Inflation seems to be over 20%, and anything we do will force Putin to the negotiating table. The Russian war machine is financed by oil, and I think we can significantly reduce its profits," concluded the chief US financier.
As you know, last Wednesday, on October 22, the Trump administration imposed sanctions against the two largest Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, simultaneously calling on the Kremlin to agree to an immediate ceasefire in the war with Ukraine. Shortly after such a sanction move by Washington, Indian refineries began to inspect their suppliers, and some Chinese companies put a pause on the purchase of Russian black gold.
At the same time, the special representative of the head of the Kremlin, Kyrylo Dmitriev, said on Sunday, October 26, that the Russian delegation is in the United States for the third day in a row, where it "delivers Putin's position on the senselessness of pressure on Russia.
" Dmitriev also noted that he is "conveying" to the American authorities the thesis that "the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine is possible only if its root causes are eradicated", and the Russian economy seems to be in good condition. "We see titanic attempts to disrupt the dialogue between Russia and the USA," Putin's envoy said, without specifying who is actually making such attempts.
Against this background, Dmitriev also stated that Russia, the United States and Ukraine seem to be "close to a diplomatic solution" that would put an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war. By the way, as it turned out, Dmitriev brought to the USA souvenir chocolate sets with Putin's quotes written on their wrappers.
Actually, on the box itself there is a picture of the head of the Kremlin with the caption "Great words of a great man" and his quote: "It is pointless to conduct a dialogue with Russia from a position of strength. " Among other sayings on the wrappers are the following: "Russia is a country that is not afraid of anything", "The fewer teeth, the more you like porridge", "They left without a right, get a club on the head", "Russia's borders do not end anywhere" and "We do not abandon our own".
It should be noted that in April 2025 it was Dmitriev, a native of Kyiv, by the way, who became the first Russian official to visit the American capital after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, his visit was seen as an important step in improving relations between Washington and Moscow.
The question of whether Dmitriev's visit to the USA is a complete failure or not is still open, according to Ihor Chalenko, a political scientist and head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies (CAST). In addition, in a conversation with Focus, the expert noted the following: "The point is that now there are new goals to establish new sanctions against the Russian Federation, which is reported by the Western media. So far, Trump is taking a wait-and-see position.
And if we talk about Dmitrieva's visit to the United States in this context, then he really faced, among other things, propaganda work. That is why we saw a number of organized interviews for both pro-democratic and pro-republican media. This is done in order to create a false impression that Russia and the United States are related and very similar in their interests, as well as the ways to achieve them. The Russian leadership was betting on this, sending Dmitriev to the USA.
" At the same time, Ihor Chalenko adds, the Kremlin's logic in the context of "Dmitriev's mission" is to disrupt the introduction of further anti-Russian sanctions by the US, which may be directed at the financial market - and not only the classic stock market, but also the crypto currency market, "which will hit the shadow financing of the war and the Russian military very hard.
" "Meanwhile, in the Kremlin, from the point of view of the Russian-Ukrainian case, in my opinion, they miscalculated, making a key bet on Witkoff, whose influence has significantly decreased at the moment. Witkoff turned out to be incapable of analytical work and voiced everything about the territories, the Russian-speaking population, history, etc. , exactly as Putin and the same Dmitriev told him.
Now Dmitriev it was not possible to meet with the group of American officials with whom he had planned. And when Scott Bessent assesses him exclusively as a propagandist, this is, in fact, a characteristic of those investment projects presented by Putin's emissary in the United States. This includes the so-called hyperloop through the Bering Strait - from Kamchatka to the American Alaska and many other projects," - emphasizes the expert.
This, according to him, shows that the Dmitriev effect is "starting to give in and blow away. " "This is extremely bad for Putin, because before that the Russian dictator worked with a parallel double tactic. On the one hand, he scared the United States, using Lavrov, Medvedev and Peskov, and sometimes acting in this role himself, as in the story with the "Petrel". And on the other hand, the Kremlin used Dmitriev as a "gingerbread" and a conditional voice of reason.
But, as we can see from the reaction of the same after all, Bessent and Dmitriev are no longer perceived as the so-called "good Russian" with whom you can conduct negotiations and further business. I think that this is a very serious wake-up call for the Kremlin in the sense that the previous strategy aimed at slowing down the processes of supporting Ukraine did not work," Ihor Chalenko concludes.
At the same time, political scientist Oleksiy Yakubin, analyzing in a conversation with Focus the obvious and veiled goals of Dmitriev's visit to the US, notes the following: "In my opinion, one of Dmitriev's tasks is to prevent further harsh anti-Russian sanctions from the US thanks to his circle of communication, and this is, in particular, Witkoff.
That is, the goal is to influence Trump and convey the Russian position that there are, they say, interesting projects, for example, the Bering Strait and so on. In addition, Dmitriev's task is to work with, to put it mildly, pro-Kremlin congressmen, as well as actively communicate with the American mass media.
That is, in general, I have the impression that Dmitriev's visit is an attempt by Moscow through Trump's inner circle and the media to convey information to him regarding the fact that the Kremlin would like to do business with him.
" In this context, the expert draws attention to one more point: "Back when the summit in Budapest was being prepared, Trump instructed Rubio, not Witkoff, to prepare it, so it is obvious that Witkoff is partially losing his position and influence in the circle of the US president.
Therefore, I do not rule out that this visit by Dmitriev is actually an attempt to some extent to save Witkoff's influence on Trump - roughly speaking, to show that he can be effective on a level with the Secretary of State or the same Bessent. In general, at the moment, the entourage of the US president is fighting for who can be the last to put the necessary message in Trump's ear. Therefore, Dmitriev's visit can be viewed from this angle as well.
" In addition, the political scientist does not rule out that for Dmitriev himself, the current American visit has an image character in a purely Russian dimension: "If you look formally, then Dmitriev is a third-rate official in the official Russian hierarchy, but at the same time, he is not in Washington for the first time, communicating there with various people, including influential and close to Trump.
And this image, in my opinion, Dmitriev is trying to sell in Russia itself, that he is, they say, the most unique channel that can influence the Trump administration not to introduce tougher sanctions, etc. With this in mind, predicts Oleksiy Yakubin, Dmitriev, using the current visit to the United States, will strengthen hardware directly in Russia.