Kirill Dmitriev, a 50-year-old Russian diplomat and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has been involved in diplomatic discussions concerning US-Russia relations. He has a background that includes studying and working in the United States.
Diplomatic Activities and Peace Proposals
In 2025, Dmitriev spent three days in Miami with Steve Witkoff, a special envoy in the Trump administration. Following these meetings, a draft peace plan emerged. Dmitriev's team did not comment on the proposals, which reportedly included conditions for Ukraine to cede territory it controls and reduce its military size. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that any agreement must lead to a "dignified peace" that respects Ukraine's independence and sovereignty.
Dmitriev and Witkoff have interacted in various diplomatic initiatives since the start of Trump's second presidency. In February 2025, Dmitriev was involved in securing the release of an American teacher from a Russian jail, a role Witkoff acknowledged. Days later, Dmitriev participated in talks on economic relations in Saudi Arabia, which marked a return from diplomatic isolation for Russia in the West; Witkoff was also present at these discussions. In late October, Dmitriev stated at a conference in Saudi Arabia, "We are sure we are on the road to peace, and as peacemakers we need to make it happen."
Public Profile and US Relations
Dmitriev has appeared on US television, where he has praised Trump's diplomatic abilities and presented the Russian government's narrative in English. During a CNN interview, he stated, "the position of [the] Russian military is they only hit military targets," days after a kindergarten was bombed in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He also affirmed his focus on dialogue to end the conflict quickly.
However, Dmitriev's engagement with US officials has drawn criticism. In 2025, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent referred to Dmitriev as a "Russian propagandist" after Dmitriev commented on the potential impact of US sanctions on Russian oil firms on US fuel prices.
During Joe Biden's presidency in 2022, the US Treasury designated Dmitriev as a "known Putin ally" and imposed sanctions on RDIF, which he has led since 2011. The Treasury described RDIF as "widely considered a slush fund for President Vladimir Putin and is emblematic of Russia's broader kleptocracy." Dmitriev has articulated that under the Biden administration, Russia's position was not understood, whereas Trump's team was credited with preventing "World War Three."
Background and Connections
Dmitriev was raised in Ukraine. A friend has stated that at the age of 15, Dmitriev participated in pro-democracy protests in Kyiv before the collapse of the Soviet Union. This contrasts with Vladimir Putin's view of the Soviet Union's dissolution as a "geopolitical catastrophe." Dmitriev reportedly met Russia's long-time leader around the beginning of his presidency in 2000.
His wife, Natalia Popova, is a TV presenter and is associated with Katerina Tikhonova, a daughter of Vladimir Putin. Popova serves as deputy head of Tikhonova's tech firm Innopraktika, and Dmitriev is also considered part of Tikhonova's professional network. Dmitriev's parents were scientists in Kyiv; his father is a cell biologist, and his mother is a geneticist. The RDIF, under Dmitriev, financed the development of Russia's Covid vaccine, Sputnik V.
Education and Early Career
Dmitriev's relationship with the US began in 1990 with a student exchange program in New Hampshire. A local newspaper quoted him at the time, highlighting Ukraine's national identity. He later attended Stanford University, where he wrote a thesis on privatization in Ukraine with the stated goal of contributing to Ukraine's reform process. He earned an MBA from Harvard.
His professional experience includes working for McKinsey in Los Angeles, Prague, and Moscow, followed by a role at the US-Russia Investment Fund, an entity established by the US to facilitate Russia's transition to a market economy. In a 2003 column for the Vedomosti business paper, Dmitriev wrote, "The world is shrewd enough to know the difference between following the letter of the law and using the law as a tool of influence," in what was perceived as a critical commentary on Putin's actions against oligarchs.
By 2007, Dmitriev was managing Icon Private Equity, an investment fund with offices in Kyiv and Moscow. He expressed concerns regarding Ukraine's political "instability" and suggested Russia was better equipped to handle the global financial crisis. In 2010, he publicly warned that Ukraine could face an "economic Holodomor" if it pursued isolation from Russia, referencing the 1930s Ukrainian famine. In 2011, he returned to Russia to lead the newly formed Russian Direct Investment Fund.