Bloomberg learns whom Putin involves in US negotiations on Ukraine

"Vladimir Putin is assembling a heavyweight team with decades of experience in high-stakes negotiations to face off against US President Donald Trump’s representatives for a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine," the media outlet states.

Among them:

• Yury Ushakov, the Kremlin's chief foreign policy adviser, who has worked in diplomacy for over half a century;
• Sergey Naryshkin, Ushakov’s top spy, who served alongside Putin in the Soviet KGB;
• Kirill Dmitriev, a financier educated at Stanford and Harvard, who has ties to the Kremlin chief’s family and, according to the publication, could play a key role as an unofficial "backchannel" to Trump's negotiators.

According to journalists, it is hardly surprising that Putin chooses to rely primarily on "highly skilled and experienced negotiators" to represent Russia in any negotiations.

"The personnel choices underscore just how determined the Russian leader is to secure a favorable outcome in any negotiations and potentially how little his demands in relation to Ukraine have changed in the three years since he ordered the full-scale invasion," Bloomberg states.

Moreover, as the article notes, the addition of Dmitriev, with his experience in the US and firms like McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., suggests that "Putin is willing to adapt in his dealings with the unconventional US president."

At the same time, according to journalists, Trump's team, in contrast, lacks the same depth of expertise on Ukraine and has little experience in direct negotiations with Russia.

"With the path to a deal still highly uncertain and Putin showing no sign of offering significant concessions, those could be major liabilities at the negotiating table," the article notes.

Ushakov and Naryshkin

The 77-year-old Ushakov has served as Putin’s aide for more than a decade, and before that, he was Russia’s ambassador to the US from 1998 to 2008, giving him "deep knowledge of dealing with Washington."

"Ushakov knows the American establishment well and has big influence in Moscow. He’s the best person for ‘big negotiations’ in the classical sense," Andrey Sushentsov, dean of the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO University in Moscow, told the outlet.

The 70-year-old Naryshkin has been a longtime confidant of Putin, working with him for over four decades. Both Ushakov and Naryshkin participated in early ceasefire talks with Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

Dmitriev

The 49-year-old Dmitriev has already taken part in negotiations for the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison this month. White House special representative Steve Witkoff hinted at this, telling reporters this week that a "gentleman from Russia" named Kirill played an important role in the process.

His involvement "suggests that the Kremlin sees that exchange as a goodwill gesture as linked to the broader Ukraine negotiations. Russia is playing a more pragmatic game and trying to have someone in their team that can ‘talk business’ with the Trump team," said Emily Ferris, senior research fellow in the International Security Studies department at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Dmitriev was born in Kyiv, and after working at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, he returned to Russia to work in private equity. He has headed Russia’s sovereign wealth fund since 2011. "He has extensive experience in concluding deals with foreign business partners," Sushentsov added.

Dmitriev is under US sanctions, with the US describing him as "a known Putin allyy" when announcing the measures. He is married to a close acquaintance of Putin’s younger daughter, with both having worked together at an innovation center. Outside Russia, he is perhaps best known as a key promoter of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V.

Participation of Putin’s other negotiators

At the same time, as Bloomberg adds, other members of the 2022 negotiating team "may also rejoin efforts at a later date."

"They would mainly help in any talks with Ukrainian representatives, according to a person close to the Kremlin, and could include presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky," the report states.

Like Dmitriev, Medinsky was born in Ukraine. He has had a decade-long career in public service, which included co-authoring a history textbook for Russian schools after the invasion of Ukraine, blaming the West for seeking to destabilize Russia.

Fogel’s release

On February 11, US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff visited Russia to bring back American citizen Marc Fogel, who had been sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony for allegedly smuggling drugs.

In return, the US handed over cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik to Russia. He was exchanged for American teacher Marc Fogel.

Notably, Trump expressed hope that Fogel’s release would mark "the beginning of relationship" that could lead to an end to the war in Ukraine.