Published: 10:55, February 20, 2026
Russia denies proposing $12t projects to US in exchange for lifting sanctions
By Xinhua

Russia's top economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (both not pictured) at the Kremlin in Moscow on Aug 7, 2025. (PHOTO / POOL / AFP)

MOSCOW - Russian special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev denied on Thursday that Russia was offering the United States projects worth $12 trillion in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

The report by the British magazine The Economist saying that Russia had put forward such a proposal in return for the lifting of US sanctions was false, Dmitriev said in a post on social media.

He pointed out that the removal of sanctions against Russia would ultimately be determined by the United States' own interests, adding that US companies had lost more than $300 billion after pulling out of the Russian market.

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Dmitriev is the Russian president's special representative for foreign investment and economic cooperation, and also serves as CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. He was part of the Russian delegation attending the latest talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff in January.