Erik Prince Establishes Kremlin Backchannel in Seychelles Meeting with Putin Ally

confirmed Importance 5/10 ~1 min read 3 sources 6 actors

Erik Prince, founder of military contractor Blackwater and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, met with Putin ally Kirill Dmitriev in Seychelles to establish back channel between incoming Trump administration and Kremlin. George Nader told Dmitriev that Prince “is designated by Steve [Bannon] to meet you!” Meeting used private military contractor rather than official diplomatic channels for sensitive international negotiations. Separately, Kushner asked Russian Ambassador Kislyak if they could communicate using secure facilities at Russian Embassy, proposing to bypass U.S. intelligence entirely.

Sources & Citations

[1] Mueller Report Volume I: Prince and Dmitriev Meet in the Seychelles · Apr 18, 2019 Tier 1

[2] Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel · Apr 3, 2017 Tier 1

[3] Kushner wanted secret communications channel with Kremlin · May 26, 2017 Tier 1

Tiers Tier 1 court records & gov docs · Tier 2 established outlets · Tier 3 regional & specialty press · Tier 4 opinion or single-source. Methodology →

Cite this entry

The Cascade Ledger. “Erik Prince Establishes Kremlin Backchannel in Seychelles Meeting with Putin Ally.” The Capture Cascade Timeline, January 11, 2017. https://capturecascade.org/event/2017-01-11--seychelles-backchannel-meeting/