Newly released documents show Jeffrey Epstein’s extensive efforts to cultivate ties with Russian elites, including attempts to meet Vladimir Putin.
WARSAW: Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein actively sought to build connections with Russia’s political elite and was desperate to secure a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, according to files released by the US Department of Justice.
The documents detail Epstein’s travels to Russia and a network used to scout young Russian women. “Lets try to set a putin meeting,” Epstein wrote in a 2014 email to Thorbjorn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister.
He repeated the request in 2015 and 2018. In a separate 2013 email to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Epstein claimed, “Putin asked that i meet him in st petersburg the same time as his economic conference I told him no.”
The files suggest Epstein wanted to pitch a digital currency project to the Russian leader. AFP found no evidence the meeting ever took place.
Following the document release, Poland announced it would probe Epstein’s alleged links to Russian secret services. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea Epstein was a Russian agent.
The documents indicate Epstein travelled to Russia several times, including during the 2018 football World Cup. A 2018 business visa and a 2011 visa application are included in the release.
Flight data shows numerous trips booked for Epstein and Russian women on his behalf. Many women were proposed by scouts and modelling agencies inside Russia, who often emphasised their youth and blonde hair.
“She has a perfect body and 100% blond,” one woman with a Russian name wrote to Epstein in 2010. Emails show Epstein and his network exploited some women’s desire to leave Russia and their precarious US immigration status.
One prominent Russian in the files is former deputy economy minister Sergei Belyakov. Emails show Belyakov repeatedly asked Epstein for help attracting high-profile US guests to a Saint Petersburg economic forum.
Epstein also asked Belyakov to gather information on a woman allegedly “attempting to blackmail a group of powerful biznessman in New York”. “I do not know many people like you, who can open new horizons and prospects,” Belyakov wrote to Epstein in 2014.
The files also detail interactions with veteran Russian diplomat Vitali Churkin, Moscow’s UN ambassador until his 2017 death. Documents suggest they met several times in 2016-2017.
Epstein helped arrange an internship for Churkin’s son, Maxim, at a New York investment fund in late 2016. “Max is doing better. He just needed to understand American biz habits,” Epstein wrote to Churkin, who replied, “U r a great teacher!”
Epstein also angled for an introduction to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov through Jagland in 2018. Sergei Belyakov and Maxim Churkin did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
