Anthony Scaramucci, aide to President-elect Donald Trump and founder of SkyBridge Capital, discussed possible joint investments in a meeting in Davos with the head of a Russian sovereign wealth fund that the U.S. sanctioned in 2015, the funds press service said.
The meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a $10 billion state-run investment vehicle, is the first public contact between the incoming administration and Kremlin-backed business. Trump has suggested he could ease the sanctions on Russia if the Kremlin cooperates on his policy priorities. Scaramucci confirmed the Davos meeting.
In an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS Tuesday, he also criticized the sanctions as ineffective. Trumps view about Russia is that theres probably shared values or shared interests, that we can align ourselves with each other and this could be mutually beneficial, he said.