Putin's envoy Dmitriev says there will be peace in Ukraine within one year

RIYADH (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told an investment conference in Saudi Arabia that the war in Ukraine will stop within one year from now.

Dmitriev spoke after his meetings with officials from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration in the United States last weekend. His visit followed an announcement that a summit between Trump and Putin had been postponed.

"We are sure that we are on the road to peace and as peacemakers we need to make it happen," Dmitriev, who is also the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told the audience in Saudi capital Riyadh.

Asked whether peace in Ukraine was possible within one year, Dmitriev said: "I believe so." While in the U.S. Dmitriev said that Russia and the U.S. were close to 'diplomatic solution' on war.

Dmitriev touted cooperation between the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top holders of natural resources and said such cooperation will make the world more secure.

"People are right now focused on the regional conflict that exists around Russia but we do not want it to escalate into a bigger conflict. And for that we have to do better than we have been doing, not worse," Dmitriev said.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba and Jana Choukeir; Writing by Gleb Bryanski; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)