Russian envoy criticises 'attempts' to disrupt dialogue with US

EDINBURGH - Russia's top economic negotiator on Sunday slammed "titanic attempts" to thwart dialogue with the United States as he visited the country for talks with American officials after Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow's oil companies.

The visit comes as the US President Donald Trump is voicing increasing frustration at Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire in the nearly four-year Ukraine war.

Earlier this week, Trump shelved talks with Putin in Budapest, saying he did not want a "wasted" meeting.

But Putin's economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who arrived in the United States on Friday, said Moscow was "committed to constructive dialogue and to clearly communicating Russia's position".

"We're seeing titanic attempts to disrupt any dialogue between Russia and the US, and to spread disinformation," Dmitriev said in a video posted on Telegram.

Dmitriev met with Trump administration officials on Friday and Saturday, a Russian source familiar with the talks told AFP. The talks were expected to continue on Sunday.

The Kremlin's envoy met with Republican Congresswoman for Florida Anna Paulina Luna, who was organising "a meeting between US Congress members and the Russian Duma to encourage parliamentary dialogue", he said on X on Sunday.

In the Telegram video message, Dmitriev -- a former Goldman Sachs banker and Stanford graduate -- said such a meeting would be held "in the near future."

Russia has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Its latest overnight attack on Kyiv killed three people and wounded dozens, the Ukrainian capital's mayor said on Sunday.