President Donald Trump's administration is quietly weighing a fresh concession to Moscow, one the Kremlin has pushed hard behind closed doors.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Trump administration is reviewing a request to lift sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a multibillion-dollar state fund the Biden administration branded a "slush fund" for Russian President Vladimir Putin when it hit the fund with penalties days after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
A U.S. official confirmed to The Times that the Trump administration is assessing the fund's application through established channels as part of an effort to "improve U.S.-Russia relations and help end the war." The official praised the fund's chief, Kirill Dmitriev, as "a helpful envoy."
Russian officials pressed for the relief during talks over the fund's role in shipping Russian diesel to the U.S., people familiar with the negotiations told The Times. Trump suspended sanctions on Russian diesel on Oct. 9, and the fund has since helped line up the first shipments, according to a senior Russian official. Three tankers have set out for the U.S. this month, and the diesel shipped before any American buyer paid for it, The Times reported.
Dmitriev, Putin's economic envoy to Washington, said nothing about his push for relief when he spoke at a Moscow conference on Oct. 16. Instead, he bragged that the diesel deal was helping convince Americans that sanctions are "philosophically wrong."
He has found a warm reception in Trump's orbit. Special envoy Steve Witkoff told Putin at a negotiating table in St. Petersburg last week, "It's been really, really good dealing with Kirill."
Eric Green, who oversaw Russia policy on the Biden White House's National Security Council, told The Times the fund was an early target because its access to Western finance could help Moscow pay for the war. Lifting the penalties now, he said, would send a "real strong message" that Washington is backing away from its position to keep the economic pain on until a settlement in Ukraine.
Critics, including some Republican lawmakers, argue Trump is giving away economic perks to Putin while asking nothing in return on the war. Trump has so far kept nearly all Biden-era sanctions on Russia in place.
Dmitriev's Kremlin ties run deep. People who know him told The Times his wife is close with one of Putin's daughters, and he has done deals with Gulf power players like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also has Trump's ear.
"The ice has finally broken," Dmitriev declared at an October conference.
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