Progress in negotiations between the US and Russia on economic issues is possible in the next two to three months. This was told to journalists today by the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, who is participating in the Russian-American negotiations in Riyadh, TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
Russia, which is subject to heavy Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, announced that it expects “rapid progress“ in the economic part of the negotiations with the US, which began today in Saudi Arabia, Agence France-Presse reports.
“We cannot reveal all the details. All I can say is that a very important part of the negotiations is related to the economy. Of course, there are also political issues. I do not deal with political issues, but with investment and economic ones. We have a number of proposals that our colleagues are considering. I believe that progress along this line is possible not in the distant future, but in the next two or three months," Dmitriyev said.
Before the meeting between Lavrov and Rubio, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund met with US representatives to discuss the possible resumption of economic cooperation between the two countries, DPA reports.
In an interview with the American television channel CNN yesterday, Dmitriyev praised US President Donald Trump's representatives as excellent problem-solvers. "I think President Trump is an excellent problem-solver," he added.
Dmitriyev denied that Moscow's main goal is to achieve an end to sanctions against Russia. "It is very important to build bridges. "I think the US-Russia relationship is very important for the world," he told CNN.
Russia earlier said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would hold talks with an official US delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday. The main topic of their discussions will be ending the war in Ukraine and restoring the "whole complex" of Russian-US relations.
The talks are aimed at paving the way for a meeting between the US and Russian presidents.
Dmitriev, a US-educated former banker from "Goldman Sachs", played a role in the first contacts between Moscow and Washington during Trump's first term as president from 2017-2021.