Putin's Envoy and Germany's AfD Plan Meeting to Revive Russian Gas Supplies

Russia's chief economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev and the leadership of Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) are in early stages of planning a meeting, reportedly as early as March, to discuss restoring Russian natural gas supplies to Germany, Reuters reports citing two people familiar with the plan.

Who Is Involved

The planned gathering would bring together Dmitriev — a close advisor to President Putin and head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund — and AfD co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. Organizers also hoped that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would attend, though a senior US official told Reuters neither was informed of or invited to the proposed summit.

Conditions and Goals

A meeting would take place only after Russia and Ukraine agree on a preliminary peace framework, according to a source. Possible venues discussed included Israel, the UAE, or India.

The AfD, currently the most popular party among German voters though not in government, has long called for resuming Russian energy imports. Weidel described "cheap energy from Russia" as the "secret of German industry's success." The AfD sees the meeting as a chance to demonstrate foreign policy credibility and highlight the government's failure to address high energy costs.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas earlier warned of the dangers of political forces that overlook the Russian threat, after the AfD's recent election victory in Saxony-Anhalt.