Trump Team Weighs Lifting Sanctions on Russian Direct Investment Fund

The Trump administration is considering lifting US sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund, or RDIF, a move that could restore a prominent Kremlin investment vehicle to cross-border commerce and give it a role in planned Russian diesel deliveries to the United States, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, October 27.

Citing people familiar with US-Russian negotiations, the newspaper said Moscow is pressing Washington to remove the restrictions so that RDIF can participate in the fuel shipments. The proposal connects sanctions policy, energy supply and commercial diplomacy at a time when the Kremlin is promoting joint business projects as part of its engagement with the current US administration.

RDIF was sanctioned by the Biden administration four days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although formally structured as a sovereign investment fund, the US Treasury Department said at the time that it was widely regarded as President Vladimir Putin’s “slush fund” and as an example of the kleptocracy associated with Russia’s system of government.

Sanctions review could reshape RDIF’s commercial role

According to one of the newspaper’s sources, the US Treasury is reviewing RDIF’s request through its standard procedures. Under that process, the Russian fund would have to demonstrate that the grounds on which the sanctions were imposed no longer apply.

That requirement creates a significant test for both sides. For Moscow, sanctions relief would offer RDIF a path back into transactions involving US counterparties and potentially strengthen its position as a platform for future bilateral ventures. For Washington, removing the restrictions would represent a management decision with consequences extending beyond a single fuel arrangement, potentially affecting how companies assess compliance risks, political exposure and the durability of Russian sanctions.

“The consideration of further sanctions relief for Russia, which has not been previously reported, shows how the Kremlin is using the recent wave of diplomacy surrounding the war in Ukraine to advance an agenda that appears to have little to do with securing peace,” the newspaper said.

RDIF is led by Kirill Dmitriev, a central participant in Russian-US talks, including discussions concerning the war in Ukraine. He has repeatedly met representatives of the current US administration and has promoted Kremlin proposals for possible joint business projects between Russia and the United States.

His role gives the sanctions question a broader corporate-strategy dimension. Restoring RDIF’s ability to operate could turn the fund into a key intermediary for Russian assets and projects seeking US capital, partners or market access. It could also place Dmitriev at the center of any commercial track accompanying the two governments’ diplomatic negotiations.

Diesel agreement provides the immediate business case

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on October 9 that he had held “very successful” talks with Putin and reached an agreement covering supplies of Russian diesel to the United States and the global market. Trump said Russia would immediately deliver more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to US and international markets, followed by another 500,000 tonnes during November and 1 million tonnes immediately afterward.

Depending on the condition of Russian oil refineries, Moscow would then provide an additional 3 million tonnes of fuel within a short period, according to the US president. Trump said Russian energy resources, combined with what he described as complete US control of the Strait of Hormuz, would drive diesel prices sharply and substantially lower for Americans and consumers worldwide.

On the same day, the US Treasury announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control, acting at the president’s direction, was immediately issuing a temporary general license authorizing Russian diesel supplies to the world market. Putin later formally confirmed the telephone conversation with Trump and the agreements concerning Russian petroleum-product deliveries to global markets.

The temporary license addresses the immediate legality of the diesel trade, while potential relief for RDIF would alter the transaction’s institutional architecture. Allowing the fund to participate could give Moscow a state-backed coordinator able to structure financing, partnerships or other commercial elements around the shipments. It would also signal that energy cooperation may become an avenue for testing broader economic normalization.

A fund designed to attract foreign capital

Established in 2011 to attract foreign investment into Russia, RDIF has served as a co-investment platform linking the Russian state with international investors. One of its projects was Sputnik V, Russia’s vaccine developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanctions sharply constrained that mandate by limiting access to Western institutions and counterparties. If Washington concludes that the restrictions should be removed, the decision could improve RDIF’s competitive standing among Russian state entities seeking to lead renewed international transactions. It could also encourage companies to examine opportunities tied to Russian energy while weighing reputational, legal and geopolitical risks.

The review therefore carries implications well beyond the fund itself. It tests whether commercial concessions can be separated from the dispute over Ukraine and whether an energy-supply agreement can become the foundation for wider US-Russian business engagement. The Treasury’s decision will determine whether RDIF remains isolated or re-emerges as a principal vehicle for the Kremlin’s economic strategy toward the United States.