By John Helmer, Moscow
@bears_with
Inside the Kremlin Wall there is only one man sitting or standing whose closeness to President Vladimir Putin has so excited his ambition to be rich (billion-dollar rich), and to be powerful (the next head of government), that he dares to shout from the ramparts that peace on the Ukrainian battlefield, relief of global economic sanctions, and prosperity with US investments will materialize very soon on condition that Russia puts its unquestioning trust President Donald Trump.
Unquestioning means, for this man, never criticizing Trump for anything he says or does — no war he wages, no ceasefire or peace agreement he breaks. It also means never questioning Putin’s trust in him.
This man is Kirill Dmitriev, the President’s “Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries” — that’s to say, special negotiator with the Trump family’s money-making regime, including the US Treasury.“I believe he acts with 100% approval of Putin and does indeed speak for him,” says a source in a position to know. “He is Putin’s Whisperer.”
The method for knowing what Dmitriev whispers to Putin in private is to follow what he shouts in public. He does that in interviews he grants to the US media which Trump supports, like Fox News. “Under the leadership of President Putin and President Trump,” Dmitriev told Fox in March 2025, “the world has become a much safer place today! Historic! Epic!” “President Trump team not only stopped World War III from happening,” he told Fox the next month, “but also had achieved sizeable progress on Ukraine war resolution.” Not even the hyperbole of the Kremlin’s propaganda agencies claim this. Several members of Kremlin Security Council, the Kremlin’s politburo for national security and warmaking, have contempt for Dmitriev saying so; ridicule for him if he believes it. No one dares to say this in public.
On Twitter since 2012, Dmitriev posts every day; several times on some days. He has not criticized Trump, the state of Israel, the wars they have launched together in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran.
In contrast, former President Dmitry Medvedev, now spokesman for the majority on the Security Council, tweets in support of Iran and in opposition to Trump and the Israelis. Iran’s “weapons are working”, he declared last week. “It’s not clear how the truce between Washington and Iran will play out. But one thing is certain – Iran has tested its nuclear weapons. It is called the Strait of Hormuz.”
Against Trump, following the announcement of ceasefire and preparation for the Islamabad talks, Medvedev telegrammed on April 8: “Who won? First of all, common sense, the belief in which was greatly undermined by the statements of the White House about the destruction of the Iranian civilization in one day. At the same time, the very fact of Trump’s consent to discuss a 10-point plan is the success of the Iranians. The question is whether Washington will agree to it: after all, there will be compensation for damage to Iran, and the continuation of the nuclear program, and Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz. Obviously not. This is humiliating for [Trump] and will mean a real victory for Iran. Then what? Fighting again?”
“Perhaps, but there is an intermediate option. Trump does not want and cannot wage war for long, and in Congress [they] will not support him. So, you need to maintain a fragile truce and pretend that everything is fine. Because every step on this board creates a position close to zugzwang. But this is a chess game in which there are not two but three players. There is still Israel. It is not on the side of the United States. It doesn’t need a truce, and that hasn’t solved its own problems. So Israel may well make its own move: just to sweep all the pieces from the chessboard. This makes the situation extremely uncertain.”
Because Medvedev and the Security Council have been openly distrustful of Trump’s negotiators with Hamas, Iran and the Ukraine, Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Putin has instructed his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to protect Dmitriev’s continuing meetings with Witkoff and Kushner. The Ukrainian and Iranian negotiations are unrelated, Peskov said. “On the whole, they are not immediately related processes. They are only related by the fact that the American negotiators are busy with the Iranian stuff…We hope that now they’ll have more time and possibilities to meet in a trilateral format. We are waiting for this. We still highly appreciate the peacemaking efforts of the American negotiators and personally of President Trump on the Ukrainian track.”
Last week, as Dmitriev flew to the US for new talks, the Kremlin spokesman said: “I can confirm this visit. Kirill Dmitriev is not engaged in talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict, so the visit does not mean a resumption of those negotiations. Kirill Dmitriev heads a group on economic issues and continues his work as part of this group.”
Dmitriev has not tweeted from the US. He has ignored Trump’s bombing threats, the April 8 ceasefire, the weekend negotiations, and Trump’s announcement of the Hormuz blockade starting today (April 13). Instead, read what Dmitriev wants his audience, starting with Putin, to be thinking instead.
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