Officials Discussing U.S.-Russia Hockey Matches in St. Petersburg and Washington D.C., Sports Minister Says

A series of ice hockey games between Russian and U.S. players will likely take place in St. Petersburg and Washington D.C. sometime in the future, Russia’s Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said Monday.

Following a closely watched phone call last month, the Kremlin said U.S. President Donald Trump supported President Vladimir Putin’s idea to organize hockey matches between their two countries. The White House did not mention hockey in its readout of the Trump-Putin call, while the NHL said it was not involved in the discussions.

“The matches are indeed possible. Private negotiations are underway. You’ll know about it when they’re over,” Degtyarev told the Russian sports broadcaster Match TV.

He said that the U.S. and Russian national teams would be comprised of players from the NHL and Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

“The series will take place in St. Petersburg and most likely in Washington,” Degtyarev said, adding that scheduling “remains the most difficult thing.”

The Russian sports minister spoke one month after the EU reportedly agreed to lift sanctions on him and three other Russian-linked business figures after lobbying from Hungary.

Degtyarev also serves as the president of Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC), which was suspended in October 2023 over its decision to absorb regional Olympic organizations from partially occupied Ukrainian regions.

Degtyarev said he expects the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to restore ROC’s membership within two to three months, after which the committee could start applying to organize tournaments from 2029 and beyond.

“Chances are high,” he told Match TV.

The International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russia from all its tournaments after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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