A visit to Washington days after the US announced sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies ended in a public relations debacle after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the Kremlin’s special business envoy Kirill Dmitriev out as a “Russian propagandist,” the Kyiv Post reported on October 27.

Dmitriev, who is also the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and has lead a “parallel track” of business talks with the White House, arrived in the US to try and undo the damage of the new Trump’s oil sanctions, the first sanctions he has imposed on Russia since taking office in January.

Dmitriev was dismissive of the sanctions, claiming they will have little impact on Russia and would only send the price of petrol up at the pump in the US.

“Frankly, we do not believe that these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Russian economy because oil prices in the world will rise and Russia will sell just fewer gallons of oil at a higher price,” he said during an interview with Fox News. “No pressure works on Russia.”

Bessent, a Russia hawk, rounded on Dmitriev during the CBS Sunday show “Face the Nation” after the presenter asked him if it was true that the latest US sanctions would have "absolutely no effect on Russia's economy".

"Well, I think Russia is going to feel the pain immediately. I can tell you that we've already seen India has done a complete halt of Russian oil purchases. Many of the Chinese refineries have stopped," Bessent said.

He went on to say that Dmitriev is “incapable of speaking honestly” about the real impact of sanctions on Russia's economy.

"Of course, the Russian economy is a wartime economy. Growth is virtually zero. Inflation, I believe, is over 20% and everything we do is going to bring Putin to the table. It's oil that funds the Russian war machine, and I think we can make a substantial dent in his profits," Bessent said, as cited by Ukrainska Pravda.

Inflation is currently Russia’s biggest economic headache, but has been falling fast across the whole country this year and is currently down from 10% at the end of last year to just under 8% as of the end of September, a 17-month low, reports Trading Economics. Nevertheless, after two years of strong growth of more than 4%, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently slashed Russia’s growth outlook for 2025 to 0.6% and 1% next year. Russia has serious economic problems and they are getting worse as the war drags into its fourth year. In particular the budget deficit forecast has tripled since the start of this year and the Ministry of Finance (MinFin) is likely to overshoot even the new elevated forecast of 1.7% of GDP for this year. Inflation could also tick up again; the IMF is predicting inflation will rise again to 9% by the close of this year before easing to 5.2% in 2026. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has also slashed its medium-term economic outlook.

Bessent said the US press should not have aired the interview, as Dmitriev was acting in the Kremlin’s interests and trying to undermine Trump’s position.

“Are you really going to publish what a Russian propagandist says?” he asked. He accused Dmitriev of lying and asked: “What else is he going to say, that, oh, it’s going to be terrible and it’s going to bring Putin to the table?”

Dmitriev spent the weekend meeting high level US officials, lobbying the White House on sanctions and mooted business deals. His sudden appearance in Washington was taken by analysts to mean the Kremlin was concerned with the sanctions that could potentially seriously affect Russia’s export revenues.

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted in comments on October 24 that the sanctions were “serious.” Both India and China, Russia’s two biggest customers for oil, have indicated they may reduce imports of Russian oil as a result of the sanctions. The two sanctioned companies, state-owned Rosneft and privately-owned Lukoil, account for two thirds of Russia’s oil exports, or 4.4mn barrels a day.

Bessent dismissed Dmitriev’s claims that Putin has sanctioned-proofed the Russian economy and its oil business has been unaffected. He noted that Russia’s oil earnings were already down 20% year over year, and said Treasury estimated the new sanctions could cut revenues by an “another 20 or 30%.”

Relations between the White House and the Kremlin have soured again recently. Following a phone conversation between the two presidents on October 17, Putin proposed to meet Trump in Budapest, but that meeting was called off after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and found there was no common ground. The Russian position has not changed, and the Kremlin is sticking to its maximalist demands, starting with Kyiv ceding the whole of the Donbas to Moscow.

Dmitriev didn’t go into the details during his media appearances, but did repeat that the fundamental cause of the conflict is that the Kremlin sees Nato’s expansion as an “existential threat”. He also rattled the Russian nuclear sabre, saying the “security of the whole world” was at stake and that the “complete annihilation of humanity” was close.” Pointedly, Russia test fired its new Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile last week that Putin claims is unstoppable by any US defence system and has unlimited range.

Until now, Dmitriev has been pushing at an open door, as Trump has made it clear that he is keen on doing business with Russia from the start as part of his minerals diplomacy foreign policy. However, according to reports, he only managed to make one low-profile meeting with Republican Congresswoman for Florida Anna Paulina Luna. Dmitriev said on social media she was organizing a “parliamentary dialogue” between US Congress members and the Russian Duma – a claim that Republican congressional aides dismissed as “a propagandist’s lie.”