Kirill Dmitriev is a rare breed of Russian diplomat.
At 50 he is relatively young and he has a deep understanding of the US, having studied and worked there for several years.
He is also a man of commerce, as head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and a good fit for his opposite number in the Trump administration, special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Dmitriev now finds himself under the spotlight over a draft peace plan that emerged after he spent three days with Witkoff in Miami.
His team has refused to comment on its proposals, which read like a Putin wishlist, requiring Ukraine to cede territory under its control and slash the size of its military.
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has been careful not to reject its terms, but says any deal must bring a dignified peace, with terms that respect our independence, our sovereignty.
Putin's special envoy understands modern Ukraine better than most in Moscow. He was brought up in Ukraine, and a friend claims that as a 15-year-old Dmitriev took part in pro-democracy protests in Kyiv before the fall of the Soviet Union.
He has been a fixture of US-Russian diplomatic initiatives pretty much since the start of Trump's second presidency - and Steve Witkoff has been a regular counterpart.
We are sure we are on the road to peace, and as peacemakers we need to make it happen, Dmitriev told a conference in Saudi Arabia in late October.
The pair appear to have first crossed paths in February 2025 when Putin's envoy played a role in securing the release of an American teacher from a Russian jail.
Days later, Dmitriev took part in talks on economic relations in Saudi Arabia, effectively bringing an end to Russia's diplomatic isolation in the West.
Dmitriev's direct approach to Trump officials has not always paid off.
When Trump announced sanctions on Russia's top two oil firms last month, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent labelled him a Russian propagandist for suggesting it would mean higher US fuel prices at the pump.
Unlike the majority of Putin's entourage, the Russian leader's envoy is comfortable in a US TV studio. He is careful to praise Trump's diplomatic skills while giving Western viewers the Russian government narrative in their own language.
Dmitriev certainly is not a military guy, but he’s a private investment specialist with an eye for a deal.
His overtures to the Trump administration have not come out of the blue.
Much of his work has been on diplomacy, but he has always had an eye on commercial opportunity. He proposed joint energy projects in the Arctic, and suggested partnering Russia's sovereign wealth fund with US companies in developing rare earth deposits.
Dmitriev's stock may be rising in Russia, but his reputation has taken a dive in Ukraine, where sanctions have been imposed on him for alleged crimes against Ukraine and Ukrainians.
