Who is Petr Aven?
April 25, 2019
Petr Aven and Putin’s Soft Backchannels
From the Mueller report:
Petr Aven, an affiliate of Russia’s Alfa Bank, told Mueller’s team that after the 2016 US presidential election Putin expressed to him that he’d like to be closer to Trump… and that it was Aven’s responsibility (given his banking position) to find a way to lift US sanctions against Russia and get closer to the Trump Administration. It’s an apparent example of Putin pursuing backchannels or unofficial routes to accessing the Trump team.
Aven said that Putin pressured him about about the progress, and that Putin threatened oligarchs would apply consequences in case of failure.
Pressure on Aven reportedly ended after Aven told Putin’s team that Mueller wanted to speak with him.
The first mention of Aven in the searchable Mueller report is on page 146.