Dmitriev Visits U.S. as Trump Pauses Putin Summit

President Trump said he will not meet Vladimir Putin until there is a clear, tangible path to a Ukraine peace deal and called off a planned Budapest summit, though the White House said a meeting is not completely off the table. The administration on Oct. 22 imposed sanctions on Russia's largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, measures mirrored by the EU that Trump said he hopes could be short‑lived if a deal is reached. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is in the United States meeting U.S. officials, including Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, and said he believes the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are “quite close” to a diplomatic solution while downplaying the sanctions' impact. Dmitriev urged any settlement must account for Russian interests and praised what he described as Trump's backchannel diplomacy. Kyiv and European allies warned borders must not be changed by force, while Russian missile and drone strikes continue to hit Ukrainian cities, causing deaths and injuries and intensifying Kyiv's calls for air‑defence support. Dmitriev's trip highlights rare high‑level exchanges amid broad Western sanctions on Russia's energy sector and ongoing tensions over the war in Ukraine.