Trump Says U.S. Is Not Lifting Russian Direct Investment Fund Sanctions

President Donald Trump said Friday, Oct. 30, that the United States would not lift sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund for now, leaving it on Washington’s sanctions list.

Trump did not say whether discussions about the fund would continue. On Oct. 28, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said discussions had been underway for some time, though he did not know their outcome. Ushakov said RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev was in active contact with the U.S. side.

Three days earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said ending the conflict and lifting sanctions warranted consideration.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a Russian sovereign wealth fund, was created in 2011 to co-invest in Russian companies. RDIF appears on the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, last updated Oct. 28.

OFAC designated RDIF, its management company, a subsidiary and Dmitriev on Feb. 28, 2022, under Executive Order 14024. Treasury described the fund as “widely considered a slush fund for President Vladimir Putin.”