Kirill Dmitriev Special envoy of the Russian President and chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund flew to Washington on Wednesday to hold talks with US officials.
The United States on Wednesday announced it had imposed a new set of sanctions against Russia aimed at combating terrorism.
Details have emerged that Dmitriev is currently meeting with US leader’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Washington.
“The talks are ‘ongoing,’ said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter,” according a source quoted by the Washington Post.
Washington has caused a stir in Europe and Asia after declaring an economic war of tarrifs considered a destablising factor in global trade and relations with some economies.
The US said on Thursday it would slap reciprocal sanctions against countries Washington suspects are using protectionist measures against US goods.
“For nations that treat us badly, we will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of cheating,” according to President Donald Trump.
“We will charge them approximately half of what they are, and have been charging us,” Trump threatened.
The US government said it will impose reciprocal tariffs of 34% on imports from China and 20% on goods from the European Union.
In addition, similar measures will affect Vietnam (46%), India (26%), Indonesia (32%), Cambodia (49%), Malaysia (24%), South Korea (25%), Thailand (36%), Taiwan (32%), Switzerland (31%), Japan (24%), and other countries.
“At the same time, we will establish a minimum baseline tariff of 10%,” Trump said.
The list of nations, whom Washington suspects of using protectionist measures against US goods, was sent to journalists by the White House in connection with US President Donald Trump’s speech.
Russia is not included in the list of the 185 countries. The document mentions a number of former Soviet republics.
The US government will impose retaliatory tariffs of 10% on imports from Ukraine, the White House said in a statement.
Russia Wants Realistic Peace Initiatives, Mediation Offers on Ukraine
The Kremlin said on Thursday it was willing and open to realistic peace initiatives for the Ukrainian settlement and mediation proposals that take into account Russia’s interests.
This was revealed during a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin.
“The Russian side stressed that to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace settlement, it is necessary to unconditionally eliminate the root causes of the conflict, including dissolving threats to Russia’s security emanating from the territory of Ukraine as a result of NATO’s expansion to the east, as well as putting an end to Kiev’s stomping on the rights of the Russian-speaking population.”
“Moscow is open to realistic peace initiatives and mediation proposals that take into account Russian interests. In this context, the activities of the Group of Friends of Peace in Ukraine, created at the UN site, were discussed,” the ministry said.
“The good level of cooperation between Russia and China with the countries of Central Asia was also noted.”
