EU-Russia economic ties will return, Putin aide predicts

Russian presidential aide Kirill Dmitriev predicted on October 22 that European countries would resume economic cooperation with Moscow, arguing that expanding business between Russia and the United States would encourage European companies to follow. He spoke at the 19th Verona Eurasian Economic Forum in Istanbul, according to RT.

Dmitriev, who also heads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, presented renewed trade as an economic inevitability rather than an agreed diplomatic outcome. The report did not cite an EU commitment to restore cooperation or a European response to his remarks.

Diesel agreement cited as a starting point

Dmitriev welcomed US President Donald Trump’s willingness to reopen dialogue with Moscow, arguing that a lack of communication between major nuclear powers had created serious risks.

He pointed to a recent Russia-US diesel agreement as a possible foundation for wider cooperation in energy and fertilizers. Under the arrangement described in the report, Russia agreed to release more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to US and global markets, with another 500,000 tons scheduled for November and further supplies to follow.

Those quantities describe agreed or planned supplies, not confirmed completed deliveries. Dmitriev argued that additional US deals would increase European companies’ interest in returning to business with Russia.

Europe and Nord Stream: predictions, not commitments

Dmitriev accused European politicians of blaming Moscow for domestic difficulties instead of addressing problems such as expensive energy and migration. He also claimed that support for renewed dialogue with Russia was growing within the EU, although the report offered no polling or specific European policy decisions to establish that shift.

He singled out German Chancellor Friedrich Merz among leaders he believed could be replaced by more pragmatic political forces. This was Dmitriev’s political assessment, not evidence of an impending change of government.

The Russian official also forecast an eventual return to service for the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Three of their four strings were damaged in underwater explosions in September 2022. He gave no restart date, and the report identified no repair agreement or regulatory approval supporting his prediction.

Dmitriev based his argument on the pressure that high energy bills could place on European governments. His references to households paying two or three times as much were part of that argument; the report supplied no billing data or comparison period to substantiate those multiples.

Modi included in sovereignty argument

Dmitriev also named Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping as leaders he considered committed to national sovereignty over globalism.

That characterisation was Dmitriev’s own. His remarks did not announce an Indian role in the diesel arrangement or establish an Indian position on his forecast for EU-Russia trade.