President Vladimir Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov, known in the 2010s as the "gray cardinal" of the Kremlin, met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland on Friday near the western city of Kalinigrad, Russian media reported on Friday.
The meeting took place behind closed doors with no press present, the Prime economic news agency reported. According to State Department spokesman Josh Kirby, the meeting was devoted to discussing the implementation of the Minsk agreements in Ukraine, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported.
Some reports claim that Surkov and Nuland had to meet near the Russian-Lithuanian border because Surkov is banned from entering the European Union.
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