Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a key Kremlin negotiator, was reportedly received by the US Embassy in Paris on Wednesday after Kyiv’s talks on security guarantees with European leaders and US envoys a day prior.
French outlet Le Monde, citing its “well-informed source,” said Dmitriev was reportedly in Paris on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
“He was seen on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré,” it wrote, adding that Dmitriev was reportedly received by the US embassy, though the Élysée Palace denied that Dmitriev had visited the presidential palace.
Dmitriev’s personal social media made no mention of the alleged visit.
Dmitriev is a key figure in the Kremlin’s negotiating team with the US, with leaked recordings suggesting he was the source of the leak of the original 28-point peace plan in November, a draft that repackaged Kremlin war goals as peace terms.
Leaked recordings also showed that Washington’s special Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff, coached Dmitriev and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov on how to package the draft to appeal Trump; Dmitriev called the recordings fake.
Witkoff, alongside Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, was in Paris on Tuesday as part of the US team deliberating security guarantees for Kyiv.
After the talks, Witkoff said the guarantees were “largely finalized,” with the UK and France providing more details of the planned deployments to post-war Ukraine, which would include troops and command centers. Germany and Italy have ruled out deploying troops to Ukraine at present.
How is Dmitriev in the EU?
While Dmitriev’s alleged presence in Paris remains unconfirmed, the report raised a myriad of questions over sanctions and entry rules.
Kyiv-born Dmitriev is a Russian citizen with no known foreign passports, meaning he would need a visa to enter the EU; his position as CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund does not automatically grant him a diplomatic passport, though Moscow could grant one on other grounds, given his background.
Kyiv Post previously learned that his family members have held US passports as recently as 2025, with his sister Natalia Dmitrieva entering Ukraine by land on a US passport on Feb. 8, and departing four days later, according to border control records and multiple sources familiar with her movements.
Despite living in the US for several years, Kyiv Post received no evidence that Dmitriev is currently or has ever been a US citizen or held a US passport.
Dmitriev is also under stringent Western sanctions for his role in enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As evidenced by Dmitriev’s previous visits to the US despite US sanctions, sanctions do not automatically entail an entry ban.