The Kremlin's Shadow Diplomat: Unpacking Kirill Dmitriev's Rise and Fall The revelation about Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin's trusted intermediary in negotiations over Ukraine, raises more questions than answers about Russia's engagement with the West.
For 18 months, Dmitriev has been shuttling between Moscow and Florida, peddling a deal that would see the United States sacrifice Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for billion dollar projects involving Russian and American companies.
At first glance, Dmitriev's pitch appears to be an audacious attempt to spin Russia's authoritarianism as a pragmatic approach to business.