Putin envoy says Russia and US are discussing joint deals including on data centres

Russia ‌and ​the US are discussing a range of new joint projects including nuclear-powered data centres in the wake of last week's agreement on diesel, President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy said on Friday. Kirill Dmitriev said that US sanctions posed serious obstacles and ‌criticised as "misguided" the Graham Act signed by US President Donald Trump last month that aims to squeeze Russia's energy revenues through sanctions and tariffs.

Nevertheless, he said the two countries were considering other forms of economic cooperation in the wake of the diesel deal. "We are also discussing joint projects in the field of Russian and US data ‌centres, including with the use of small-scale nuclear power plants," he added, without giving details.

Ukraine has this month attacked data centres of Russian tech group Yandex ‌and banking and technology group Sberbank in what it called a response to Russian strikes on its own sites. Dmitriev, a key figure in Russia-US talks on ending the Ukraine war, has long been pushing for a range of ambitious potential deals including on minerals and energy.

The Kremlin has expressed frustration that the US until now has linked any such agreements to a peace ⁠deal, which ​remains elusive. But Dmitriev expressed optimism that this was ⁠changing.

"Naturally, progress is quite difficult; there is resistance - widespread resistance, in fact - from various quarters. Yet, as the example regarding diesel demonstrates, I believe we will soon be announcing several other ⁠significant initiatives. The ice has, in fact, begun to break," he told the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow. "We are effectively implementing projects with the United States of America at this ​very moment, and we will continue to do so until the special military operation comes to an end," he added, using the Kremlin's term ⁠for the war.

Dmitriev said the US Treasury had asked Russia's sovereign wealth fund, which he heads, to help sort out tricky payment issues relating to the diesel agreement. The deal announced by Trump ⁠a ​week ago involves the supply of Russian diesel to US and global markets in order to lower the price of the fuel, a key priority for the US president ahead of next month's mid-term elections.

Fiercely criticised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, it requires the removal of some sanctions on Russian oil that Trump ⁠himself has imposed. "There are so many layers of sanctions piled on top of one another that everyone has become confused; it's difficult now to figure out ⁠how to navigate a way out ⁠of this situation," Dmitriev told the Moscow conference.

"Brainstorming sessions are already under way regarding how to lift these sanctions - that is exactly what the United States is currently working on." He said his Russian Direct Investment Fund "will work to ensure that ‌all payments are efficient ‌and reach their intended recipients".