CNN: Epstein Wanted A Face-to-face Meeting With Putin
- 9.02.2026, 17:10
The scandalous financier tried to establish contacts with the Kremlin.
Jeffrey Epstein had a message he sought to convey to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. To do so, he wanted to hold an hours-long meeting with the Russian leader.
But Epstein's plans included more than just a meeting with Putin: he also intended to meet with various Russian officials. This is according to CNN.
One of the cases occurred in 2018, a year after the death of Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin. Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice show that Churkin met regularly with Epstein. Moreover, it was thanks to Jeffrey Epstein that the Russian ambassador's son Maxim got a job at a New York asset management firm.
Epstein first intended to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. To do so, he approached Norwegian politician Turbjorn Jagland, who was then serving as secretary-general of the Council of Europe. The latter replied that he would meet with Lavrov's aide next week and suggested the possibility of the diplomat meeting with Epstein.
Epstein may have been linked to Russian intelligence
CNN notes that Epstein's intentions to seek ties to Russian politicians were already known, but a new series of documents that have been released show the financier's desire to get close to high-ranking officials, particularly Putin, with whom he was trying to meet.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a cabinet meeting this week that his country would launch an investigation into Epstein's possible ties to Russian intelligence.
"More and more leads, more and more information and more comments in the world press concern the suspicion that this unprecedented pedophilia scandal was organized by the Russian intelligence services," Tusk said. He added that Russian involvement shows that Russian intelligence may still have compromising material on many leaders who are later in power.
But Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitri Peskov rejected the idea that Epstein was spying for Russia or that he was controlled by Russian intelligence services.
Epstein sought opportunities to meet with Putin
The published documents say Epstein sought access to influential figures in world politics, but it is not known whether he was able to contact world leaders, particularly Putin.
In May 2013, according to the documents, Epstein wrote to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that Jagland was "going to meet Putin in Sochi" on May 20. He requested that Jagland ask if Epstein could meet with the Russian president "to explain how the Russian Federation can structure agreements to encourage Western investment." In the same letter, he emphasized that he had never seen Putin before.
A few days later, Jagland told Epstein that he would relay a message to the Kremlin dictator and try to find out if Putin might be interested in such a meeting.
"He is in a unique position to do something grand, like a satellite for the space race. You can tell him that you and I are close and that I'm giving advice to Gates...It's confidential. I would be happy to meet with him, but for at least two or three hours, no less," Epstein said in a letter to the Norwegian politician.
Bill Gates, through his spokesman, called his meeting with Epstein "a serious mistake."
And already on May 21, in a new letter to former Israeli Prime Minister Barak, Epstein wrote that he refused Putin's request to meet during a Russian economic conference in St. Petersburg. Epstein said that if Putin wanted to meet with him, he would "need to allocate real time and confidentiality." However, he did not provide any evidence that the invitation actually took place.
Subsequently, in July 2014, an email to Epstein indicated that he was to have a meeting with Putin and invited the LinkedIn founder to join.
Some of Epstein's contacts with prominent Russians occurred at a tense moment in U.S.-Russian relations: shortly after Russian Federation was accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential election, which Donald Trump won.
In June 2018, Thorbjorn Jagland reached out to Epstein again, where he revealed that he was due to return from Moscow, where he was to have meetings with Putin, Dmitry Medvedev and Lavrov. In response, Epstein replied that he regretted "not being with Jagland at the meeting with the Russians."
Jagland himself has denied any wrongdoing involving Epstein.
Epstein had close ties to the FSB
Other documents indicate that Epstein was friends with Sergei Belyakov, who was close to the FSB. In one letter, the American financier called the Russian a "very good friend."
Belyakov graduated from the FSB Academy in Moscow in 1999, and in 2015, when Epstein called him his friend, was running the St. Petersburg Economic Forum Foundation, responsible for organizing Russia's largest economic conference.
It was after attending that forum in 2015 that former Israeli Prime Minister Barak informed Epstein of meetings with Lavrov, Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and several other Russian banking executives.
Barak's office noted that Epstein was interested in Russian affairs and meeting with Putin, but the former Israeli prime minister himself "never mentioned" Epstein's name to the Kremlin, but "sometimes discussed" world affairs with him and "recalled some people he met with."
In 2016, Epstein and Belyakov had joint correspondence, including Belyakov telling him about his new position at the Russian Direct Investment Fund and his desire to attract investment in Russia. In response, Epstein promised to do anything that would be useful for the Russian.
The American financier himself also asked Belyakov for help. In 2015, he wrote about a Russian woman from Moscow who is trying to blackmail "a group of influential businessmen in New York," and "this is bad for the business of everyone involved."
Possible meeting between Epstein and oligarch Oleg Deripaska
It becomes known from the correspondence that Epstein could also advise Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. In particular, he was thanked for "his thoughts on Deripaska."
The letter, dated November 2010, mentions an attempt by someone claiming to be Epstein's assistant to arrange a meeting between Epstein and a person referred to as "Oleg." It is not known if there was ever a meeting between the two.
Deripaska himself has stated that he does not know Epstein and has never communicated with him.
Epstein traveled to Russia
An analysis of flight logs revealed that Epstein visited Russia on a private plane in November 2002.
In addition, a photo uploaded in 2005 to Esther Dyson's Flickr account shows Epstein in Saratov, in front of Andrei Sakharov's cottage. The man worked in that city on the Soviet hydrogen bomb and later became known as a dissident.
The photo's geolocation is dated April 28, 1998, though it is impossible to verify the date it was taken.
According to emails released by the Justice Department, Epstein later reapplied for a Russian visa in 2018. Another email indicates his team requested that his valid Russian visa be transferred to a new passport in March 2019, just months before his arrest on federal charges related to sex trafficking of minors.