Russia and the United States discussed possible cooperation on energy projects in the Arctic at a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a top Russian negotiator told POLITICO.
Kirill Dmitriev, who heads the state-owned Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said the economic conversations had been about broad strokes, but that the two sides had discussed some “specific areas of cooperation.”
“It was more a general discussion — maybe joint projects in the Arctic. We specifically discussed the Arctic,” Dmitriev said by phone as he boarded a flight home after the talks in Riyadh.
The negotiations, which sidelined Ukraine and Europe, have sparked angst and urgency in key European capitals as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin look set to decide on Ukraine’s future without substantial input from Kyiv or its Western allies.
