Putin Utus Foreign Minister To Russian Investment Officials Meet Trump's Envoy

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a delegation to meet with senior US President Donald Trump administration official in Riyadh on Tuesday in the highest-level talks since Moscow sent its troops to Ukraine in 2022.

The following is the main member of the Russian delegation, reported by Reuters, Tuesday, February 18:

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Lavrov has served since 2004 as Moscow's foreign minister who has served the longest since the Soviet period.

A prestigious graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), he is fluent in English, French, and Sinhala, has worked as a Soviet diplomat in Sri Lanka.

Prior to becoming foreign minister, Lavrov was Russia's permanent representative at the United Nations.

He could be a stubborn person, especially towards his interlocutors who he considered less prepared, but also mass, once said: "I'm not paid to be optimistic."

Kremlin Foreign Advisor Yuri Ushakov

Ushakov has been Putin's adviser since 2012. Ushakov attended Putin's most important international meeting, and spoke on his behalf of key diplomatic issues. He speaks English and Danish.

While being the ambassador to Washington from 1998 to 2008, he wrote: "What offends us is the view held by some people in Washington that Russia can be used when needed and disposed of or even abused when it is irrelevant to American goals."

Head of the Russian Wealth Fund Kirill Dmitriev

Dmitriev (49) was listed as an investment banker studying at America at Harvard and Stanford in the 1990s. He worked at US companies Goldman Sachs and McKinsey before returning to Moscow.

He was not present when Lavrov and Ushakov sat with US officials, but attended a separate meeting in Riyadh.

Dmitriev manages private equity firm Delta Equity Partners, backed by US capital, in Russia before being appointed by Putin to head Russia's Direct Investment Fund, which was formed in 2011 to facilitate foreign investment.

He played a role in early contact with the US when Trump was first elected president in 2016, as well as in building ties with Saudi Arabia, which resulted in an oil price deal under the expanded OPEC+ producer forum.

Dmitriev has met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman several times, who helped mediate the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the US this month.

Dmitriev told reporters in Riyadh: "We really see President Trump and his team as a problem-solving team, people who have overcome a number of major challenges very quickly, very efficiently, and very successfully."