Trump Officials Discussing Sanctions Relief for Russian Fund, Russia Acknowledges

Russia is discussing sanctions relief with the Trump administration for the country’s flagship state investment fund, the Kremlin said Wednesday, underscoring President Vladimir V. Putin’s efforts to wring economic benefits from the negotiations on ending his war with Ukraine.

Mr. Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, described the discussions in comments to Russian journalists on Wednesday, confirming a New York Times report this week.

“Such a conversation is taking place,” Mr. Ushakov said when asked about the report, according to Tass, a Russian state news agency. “It has been going on for some time, though I do not know what the outcome will be.”

The Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on the fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, The Times reported on Tuesday. A U.S. official said the administration was assessing the fund’s application for sanctions to be removed through established procedures as part of an effort to “improve U.S.-Russia relations and help end the war.”

The Biden administration imposed sanctions on the fund days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, calling it “a slush fund” for Mr. Putin that was “emblematic of Russia’s broader kleptocracy.” The fund has invested billions of dollars in Russian companies, often alongside investors from the Middle East and elsewhere, pushing to expand Russia’s global influence.

The news of the administration’s potential new concession to Russia set off more criticism from Democrats in Congress who have cast President Trump as being too eager to make business deals with Mr. Putin and too reluctant to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump suspended sanctions on Russian diesel in exchange for Russia promising to increase its exports of the fuel, an attempt to lower energy prices that infuriated supporters of Ukraine.