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February 13, 2025 | 06:45 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in negotiations for the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison, a source close to the negotiations between Russia and the United States told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Kremlin could not be reached for immediate comment. The Saudi embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The Saudi crown prince, also known as MbS, helped to negotiate the biggest U.S.-Russian prisoner swap since the Cold War in August 2024.
That deal, worked on in secrecy for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners - 16 moving from Russia to the West, including U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, and eight sent back to Russia from the West.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, took Fogel back to the United States from Moscow on Tuesday after an unannounced stop in Russia.
Witkoff was quoted by a CNN reporter on X as saying that MbS was "instrumental as well" and that "a gentleman from Russia" by the name of Kirill "had a lot to do with this".
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Saudi Arabia in 2023, said last September that he was grateful to Mohammed bin Salman for his role in the previous exchange.
Putin and Mohammed bin Salman have fostered a close personal relationship since 2015 when the prince visited Russia for the first time. Reuters reported this month that Saudi Arabia is seen by Russia as a possible venue for a Russia-U.S. summit.
Dmitriev, a U.S.-educated, former Goldman Sachs banker and now CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), played a role in early contacts between Moscow and Trump's team when he was first elected president in 2016.
Dmitriev also was involved in steps leading to the release of U.S. investment banker Michael Calvey from a Russian prison in 2019. He called Calvey a professional investor and personally vouched for him.
RDIF and Dmitriev declined to comment to Reuters on his participation in Fogel's release.
Putin and Trump spoke on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, discussing an end to the war in Ukraine. The two leaders agreed to meet in the future and Putin invited Trump to Moscow, according to the Kremlin.
"Today, the leaders of the U.S. and Russia have possibly opened a door to a future shaped by cooperation, not confrontation," Dmitriev told reporters in comments after the call.
REUTERS
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