Epstein Files Reveal Efforts to Build Ties with Russia and Seek Putin Meeting
Convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein attempted to cultivate ties with Russia’s political establishment and appeared determined to secure a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, according to files released by the US Department of Justice on Tuesday. The documents provide new details about Epstein’s travel to Russia, his outreach to senior Russian figures, and his network’s recruitment of young women.
The mere mention of an individual’s name in the files does not imply wrongdoing.
Repeated Attempts to Reach Putin
In a January 2014 email to Thorbjorn Jagland, former Norwegian prime minister and then secretary general of the Council of Europe, Epstein wrote: “Lets try to set a putin meeting.”
He repeated the request to Jagland in 2015 and again in 2018.
In a 2013 email to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Epstein wrote: “Putin asked that i meet him in st petersburg the same time as his economic conference I told him no.”
The documents suggest Epstein was seeking to pitch a digital currency project to Putin. There is no evidence in the released files that such a meeting ever took place.
Travel to Russia
The files indicate Epstein may have travelled to Russia several times. A Russian business visa was issued to him in June 2018, when Moscow was hosting the football World Cup.
Travel itineraries show plans for him to attend the Morocco-Iran match in Saint Petersburg and Uruguay-France in Nizhny Novgorod. The DOJ release also includes a Russian visa application from 2011.
The documents contain older photographs of Epstein in front of the Hyatt hotel in central Moscow, as well as an undated image of his jailed associate Ghislaine Maxwell appearing to stand between two Russian soldiers.
Recruitment of Young Russian Women
Flight data shows numerous trips arranged for Epstein involving Russian women. The files describe scouts and modelling agencies inside Russia proposing young, often blonde women to Epstein.
In a February 2010 email, a woman with a Russian name wrote: “She has a perfect body and 100% blond.”
Months earlier, the same person had promised to find a “flower” during a trip to Russia that appeared to be financed by Epstein.
Various emails indicate that Epstein and his network exploited the desire of some young women to leave Russia and their vulnerable immigration status in the United States.
Connections with Russian Officials
One prominent figure in the files is Sergei Belyakov, a former deputy economy minister and graduate of the FSB academy who was involved in organising Russia’s flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg.
Emails show Belyakov asking Epstein for assistance in attracting high-profile American guests to the forum years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
“i will be all the help i can. who is your dream att=ndees? peter thiel? nathan myrhvold. ? reid hoffman.?” Epstein wrote.
Epstein also requested information from Belyakov about a woman he claimed was attempting to blackmail powerful businessmen in New York.
Another key name in the files is Vitali Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2006 until his death in 2017. The documents suggest Epstein and Churkin met multiple times in 2016 and 2017.
In August 2016, Epstein invited Churkin to a lunch with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and businessman Tom Barrack, now the US ambassador to Turkey.
The files also indicate Epstein helped arrange an internship for Churkin’s son, Maxim, at a New York investment fund in late 2016.
Epstein also sought an introduction to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Following the document release, Poland said it would investigate Epstein’s alleged links to Russian secret services. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed suggestions that Epstein was a Russian agent.
