Le Monde: Putin’s negotiator seen near Élysée Palace

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s envoy for negotiations with Washington over the Russian-Ukrainian war, spent January 7 in Paris.

According to the newspaper, an informed source said Dmitriev had been seen on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré.

The Élysée Palace swiftly rejected any suggestion that Dmitriev might have entered the presidential residence. Officials emphasised that he had not been received at the Élysée, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 gathering in Paris of leaders from the so-called “coalition of the willing.” That meeting brought together Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law.

Despite the French president’s office denying contact, Le Monde maintained that Dmitriev did hold discussions elsewhere in the French capital. During his stay, the publication asserted, he was hosted at the US Embassy, which is located in close proximity to the Élysée Palace.

By Tamilla Hasanova