The West’s sanctions war has backfired on American companies, the head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund has said
US companies lost more than $300 billion by leaving the Russian market amid Ukraine-related sanctions, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has said. He noted that Moscow and Washington need to reestablish dialogue to jointly solve problems that affect both economies.
Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, the West slapped Russia with unprecedented sanctions aimed at destabilizing the country’s economy and forcing Moscow to end its military operation. The measures, coupled with Moscow’s countersanctions, led many Western firms to divest from their businesses in Russia, losing billions in investment and profits. According to estimates from the Yale University School of Management, over 1,000 foreign firms have voluntarily curtailed operations in Russia to some degree since February 2022.
“US businesses lost over $300 billion from leaving the Russian market,” Dmitriev told CNN on Tuesday, ahead of the first direct Russia-US negotiations over the Ukraine conflict in Saudi Arabia. The figure is nearly equal to the amount of Russian central bank assets frozen in the West as part of sanctions.
The official noted that given such hefty losses, lifting sanctions would be in the interests of the US as well as Russia.
“What we want is good dialogue… finding joint economic ways to solve problems is extremely important, mainly for the US,” Dmitriev stated.
Commenting on the Russia-US talks, Dmitriev said “the entire globe is waiting to see whether the US and Russia will be able to improve relations.”
“Our better relations will allow us to solve a large number of global tasks and problems that the world faces,” added the official, who will be responsible for the economic aspect of the talks as part of the Russian team.
I think it’s very important to build bridges. I think US-Russia relations are very important for the world. I think it’s very important that the US and Russia cooperate.
Dmitriev noted that Moscow was already in contact with members of US President Donald Trump’s administration ahead of the talks, and considers them “great problem solvers.” He said that signals from Washington have so far been positive, with Trump and his team indicating they want to reestablish dialogue.
The talks in the Saudi capital of Riyadh were proposed following last week’s phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While neither head of state is expected to attend the talks, they are being conducted by high-level officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Neither Ukrainian nor EU diplomats will be present at the meeting.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier explained that the location for the talks was selected because it suited both countries. He added that the meeting would be devoted to “restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations” and laying the groundwork for a Trump-Putin summit.
