Christophe Büchi

Let’s talk about Kirill Dmitriev. Who is he, and why the hell is Putin’s sanctioned envoy being welcomed into the White House? It’s not for peace talks. Dmitriev isn’t a career diplomat. He’s a former Goldman Sachs banker who has run Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, since 2011. He is a close Putin associate and was appointed Putin’s special presidential envoy for international investment and economic cooperation in 2025. The US Treasury sanctioned him and his investment fund in February 2022, explicitly identifying him as a close Putin ally and describing the fund as an instrument of Putin’s inner circle. He’s been building financial relationships with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and China. He’s also been a recurring back-channel contact with Trump’s inner circle. In 2017, he sought access to Trump’s incoming administration. His reconciliation proposal reached Jared Kushner through intermediaries. He also met Erik Prince in the Seychelles. This is documented in the Mueller investigation. In 2020, reporting revealed that Kushner maintained a private communications channel with Dmitriev. They discussed investment opportunities, international negotiations and even the Russian-funded ventilator shipment to New York. In 2025 and 2026, Dmitriev became a central figure in Trump’s negotiations with Putin over Ukraine. He’s also been pushing for sanctions relief for Russia’s investment fund. And now he’s back in Washington, welcomed into the White House, where Trump met with him privately. There’s another part of this story that deserves scrutiny. The White House is giving Melania Trump considerable credit for the Oleshky ceasefire. But Pope Leo had already been working on this humanitarian crisis. He personally called Putin on October 16 to request a ceasefire, humanitarian assistance and safe evacuation. He spoke with Zelenskyy three days later. Cardinal Zuppi had been pressing the issue for weeks. The Vatican’s diplomatic intervention is documented. The precise extent of Melania’s subsequent negotiating role has not been independently explained. And somehow, the central figure at the White House celebration is Putin’s sanctioned economic and diplomatic envoy. Why is he here? What is he negotiating? What is he offering? What is Putin expecting in return? And why is the American president privately meeting with Putin’s representative while Ukrainian officials are left out? This man isn’t here simply to celebrate a humanitarian evacuation. He’s here representing Putin’s economic and political interests. Americans deserve to know what is being negotiated in our name.