World
Russian special envoy in US to meet Trump administration officials
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is currently in the United States and is meeting members of US President Donald Trump’s administration for discussions on a peace deal for Ukraine and US-Russia economic cooperation, sources with knowledge of the visit said on Thursday.
The visit comes before the US decision on whether to extend sanctions relief on Russian oil, which expires on April 11 and could also be on the agenda.
The United States issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea, in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as a step to stabilise global energy markets roiled by Iran war.
The sanctions relief took place after a call between Trump and Putin on March 9 and a subsequent visit to the US by Dmitriev to discuss the energy crisis with a US delegation that included Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Also on Thursday, Putin declared a 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Easter weekend.
Putin’s decree, released by the Kremlin, orders Russian forces to observe a ceasefire starting at 4pm on Saturday and lasting until the end of Sunday.
