Putin envoy touches down in Alaska ahead of Russia-US summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, a key figure behind the negotiations between Moscow and Washington, has arrived in Alaska ahead of Friday’s top-level summit. 

The senior official, who is also CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), shared a picture of himself on US soil shortly after landing in Alaska on Thursday.

The envoy is set to participate in the summit between Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

“Looking forward to tomorrow’s historic Russia-US summit,” he wrote.

Shortly before landing, the special envoy shared photos of “sunny and beautiful” Alaska he had taken from aboard the plane. 

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In addition to Dmitriev, the Russian delegation is expected to include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

According to Russian media reports, Lavrov, accompanied by Moscow’s envoy in the US, Aleksandr Darichev, has also arrived in Alaska. 

A large group of Russian journalists accredited for the summit, including an RT reporter crew, has also arrived in the US state, landing in Anchorage. RT’s Egor Piskunov revealed that journalists were served Chicken Kiev aboard the plane bound for Alaska. “Perhaps this is a good sign for the upcoming negotiations,” he suggested.