# Igor Sechin CEO of Rosneft (Russia's largest oil company), former Deputy Prime Minister, and one of [[Vladimir Putin]]'s closest and most powerful allies. Often described as the second most powerful person in Russia. Sechin is named in the [[Russia]] record as having allegedly met secretly with Trump campaign adviser [[Carter Page]] during Page's July 2016 trip to Moscow. ## Background Sechin has been at Putin's side since the 1990s, when both worked in the St. Petersburg mayor's office. He followed Putin to Moscow and served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the presidential administration before being installed at Rosneft. He is the exemplar of the "silovik" faction — former security services officials who dominate Russian economic and political life under Putin. Sechin and Rosneft have been under US sanctions since 2014 (Crimea-related), making any contact between Sechin and American political figures — particularly from a presidential campaign — a matter of legal and counterintelligence significance. ## The Carter Page Meeting (Alleged) According to the [[Steele Dossier]] and FBI intelligence, [[Carter Page]] secretly met with Sechin during his July 2016 trip to Moscow. Per these allegations, Sechin raised the prospect of lifting US sanctions on Russia in exchange for a stake in Rosneft — essentially offering a massive energy deal contingent on a future Trump administration removing sanctions. Page has denied the meeting. The FBI's FISA warrant application cited the alleged Sechin contact as part of its finding of "probable cause to believe Page is an agent of Russia." While two later FISA renewals were declared invalid due to FBI procedural failures, the underlying intelligence about Page's Moscow contacts has not been publicly retracted. ## Significance Sechin represents the energy dimension of the Russia-Trump nexus. If the alleged Page meeting occurred as described, it would constitute a direct offer from Putin's most powerful economic ally to trade sanctions relief for energy sector access — the kind of transactional quid pro quo that connects Russia's geopolitical objectives (sanctions removal) to Trump's business orbit (energy deals). Sechin's involvement, even if alleged, elevates the Carter Page thread from a peripheral campaign adviser's freelancing to a contact with the heart of Putin's inner circle.