Washington DC - Russia's top economic negotiator said Friday he had arrived in the US for talks, two days after Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow's two biggest oil companies.
The visit comes with increasing US frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire in the nearly four-year Ukraine war.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump notably scrapped planned talks with Putin in Budapest, saying he did not want a "wasted" meeting.
"Arrived in the US to continue the US-Russia dialogue – visit planned a while ago based on an invitation from the US side," Putin's top economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on X.
The envoy told Russian news agencies that he would convey Russia's position on the Ukraine war in meetings with Trump administration officials.
"Ukraine, unfortunately, is disrupting the dialogue that is necessary, and is doing so again at the request of the British, at the request of the Europeans, who want the conflict to continue," state agency TASS quoted him as saying.
Russia has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire.