Kirill Dmitriev: The 'Architect' behind Ukraine's peace plan
During President Donald Trump's second term, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), is emerging as President Vladimir Putin's most valuable diplomatic asset. With his Stanford degree and close ties to the Trump family, Dmitriev is seen as the most effective "unofficial channel" between Moscow and Washington.
Key diplomatic channel
According to observers, Kirill Dmitriev is considered one of the key architects behind the Trump administration's "28-point peace plan" for Ukraine. His rise on the diplomatic chessboard was marked by President Putin's appointment of him as the President's Special Envoy for Economic Cooperation and Foreign Investment in February 2025 – shortly after the first meeting between Russian and American representatives in Riyadh.
Former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev noted that Dmitriev currently plays a key diplomatic role for the Kremlin. While Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov works with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio according to official protocols, Dmitriev is in charge of contacts with Steve Witkoff – the US special envoy.
"Dmitriev is a direct link to Witkoff," Bondarev analyzed. "The Russian side sees Witkoff as an easily accessible link in the Trump administration, and Dmitriev is tasked with exploiting this connection to advance Russian approaches."
Dmitriev's advantage lies not only in his current position but also in his long-standing personal relationship with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. Even during Trump's first term (2016-2020), Dmitriev had secret contacts with Kushner to discuss US-Russia investment projects.
From Stanford to the Kremlin
Kirill Dmitriev was born in Kyiv (Ukraine), but in interviews, he always claimed to have been born in the Soviet Union. His resume is the ideal model of a modern technocrat: a graduate of the prestigious Stanford University, and former employees of the investment bank Goldman Sachs and the consulting firm McKinsey in the United States.
In 2011, he became the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), tasked with attracting Western capital to Russia. However, when the conflict in Ukraine broke out, he was immediately placed on the sanctions lists of the United States and Europe.
But what truly propelled Dmitriev into the core circle of power wasn't just his financial acumen, but his social network. According to Ilya Shumanov, former director of Transparency International in Russia, Dmitriev's wife is a close friend of President Putin's daughter. The relationship between the two families is described as "extremely close."
Dmitriev's importance was truly confirmed in December 2023, almost two years after the start of the conflict in Ukraine. At that time, President Putin was internationally isolated due to an ICC arrest warrant. It was Dmitriev who successfully organized Putin's trips to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and attracted investment from these countries despite the West's withdrawal.
Political analyst Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin, commented: "Dmitriev has proven his exceptional effectiveness on the international stage."
According to DW, Dmitriev's rise also reveals an interesting shift within the Kremlin. While Foreign Minister Lavrov represents a hardline, uncompromising stance, Dmitriev is the image of compromise and pragmatic negotiation.
"When Putin feels the need for real negotiations, Dmitriev will step forward," Gallyamov observed.
The clearest evidence of this is that during the recent visit of US special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow, President Putin received him along with Dmitriev and his assistant Yuri Ushakov, while Foreign Minister Lavrov was absent.
While it remains unclear whether this signals a complete shift in Russia's foreign policy, Kirill Dmitriev is clearly a "trump card" that Putin is using to reshape relations with the West in the Trump 2.0 era.
