
CNN
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The Kremlin is assembling a high-level negotiating team to engage in direct talks with the United States to end the war in Ukraine, sources with knowledge of the issue have told CNN.
Members of the Kremlin team have not been publicly announced, but CNN has learned it will include top-level political, intelligence and economic figures, including the Russian official who played a key behind-the-scenes role in a recent US prisoner release deal.
Kirill Dmitriev, a close Putin adviser, will focus on restoring economic ties between the US and Russia as the two sides attempt to forge a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement, according to a source with knowledge of the…