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Deripaska’s visa to travel to the United States had been blocked by the State Department because of concerns about his ties to Russian businesses and government. The U.S. embassy in Moscow monitored Deripaska’s business dealings during the time, reporting back to Washington they believed the oligarch was close to Putin.

Deripaska’s visa to travel to the United States had been blocked by the State Department because of concerns about his ties to Russian businesses and government. The U.S. embassy in Moscow monitored Deripaska’s business dealings during the time, reporting back to Washington they believed the oligarch was close to Putin.

{{Quotebox|“Deripaska enjoys a favorable relationship with President Putin -- he is a more or less permanent fixture on Putin's trips abroad, and he is widely acknowledged by our contacts to be among the 2-3 oligarchs Putin turns to on a regular basis,”}} one 2006 cable from the Moscow embassy to Washington declared.

{{Quotebox|“Deripaska enjoys a favorable relationship with [[President Putin]] -- he is a more or less permanent fixture on Putin's trips abroad, and he is widely acknowledged by our contacts to be among the 2-3 oligarchs Putin turns to on a regular basis,”}} one 2006 cable from the Moscow embassy to Washington declared.

The oligarch’s visa controversy dragged on for years and reached the highest levels of both governments. A February 2008 State Department cable released by WikiLeaks shows that Putin was so concerned about the matter that he had then-Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [[Sergey Kislyak]] lobby then U.S. Ambassador to Moscow William Burns to try win Deripaska’s entry to the United States. "Kislyak parried with a demand for more information on the U.S. refusal to issue Oleg Deripaska a visa. Ambassador said he had already provided our response,” the cable said. Putin eventually dispatched Kislyak to be his ambassador in Washington.

The oligarch’s visa controversy dragged on for years and reached the highest levels of both governments. A February 2008 State Department cable released by WikiLeaks shows that Putin was so concerned about the matter that he had then-Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [[Sergey Kislyak]] lobby then U.S. Ambassador to Moscow William Burns to try win Deripaska’s entry to the United States. "Kislyak parried with a demand for more information on the U.S. refusal to issue Oleg Deripaska a visa. Ambassador said he had already provided our response,” the cable said. Putin eventually dispatched Kislyak to be his ambassador in Washington.