Trump weighs lifting sanctions on Russian fund once described by U.S. Treasury as Putin’s ‘slush fund,’ NYT reports
President Donald Trump’s administration is considering lifting sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), sources familiar with talks between Russia and the United States told The New York Times.
Russia is pressing for sanctions relief for RDIF so the fund can take part in supplying Russian diesel fuel to the United States, the sources told the Times.
The U.S. Treasury Department is reviewing the fund’s application for sanctions relief under its standard procedures, one source said. RDIF will have to prove that the reasons it was sanctioned no longer apply.
RDIF is headed by Kirill Dmitriev, a key participant in the talks between Russia and the United States. He is leading the Kremlin’s push for possible joint business ventures between the two countries.
RDIF was established in 2011 to attract foreign investment to Russia. The best-known project it helped develop was Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Dmitriev and his wife, Natalya Popova, are believed to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s younger daughter, Katerina Tikhonova.
President Joe Biden’s administration imposed sanctions on RDIF on February 28, 2022, four days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “While officially a sovereign wealth fund, RDIF is widely considered a slush fund for President Vladimir Putin and is emblematic of Russia’s broader kleptocracy,” the U.S. Treasury Department said at the time.
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