Convicted US sex offenderJeffreyEpsteinsought to build ties with Russia's political elite and appeared desperate to secure a meeting with PresidentVladimir Putin, files released by theUS Department of Justice show.

Read moreRoyals, politicians, magnates, intellectuals: Epstein files spark storm in global elite circles

The documents also reveal more details on the extent to whichEpstein, who was facing charges of alleged sex trafficking when he killed himself in aNew Yorkjail, travelled to Russia, and had a network of scouts searching for young Russian women.

The mere mention of someone's name in theEpsteinfiles does not in itself imply any wrongdoing by that person.

Here's what we know aboutEpstein's links to Russia from the files:

Seeking Putin

"Lets try to set a putin meeting,"Epsteinwrote in a January 2014 email to Thorbjorn Jagland, formerNorwegianprime minister and then secretary general of the Council of Europe.

He repeated the request to Jagland in 2015 and 2018.

In a 2013 email to former Israeli Prime MinisterEhud Barak,Epsteinsaid: "Putin asked that i meet him in st petersburg the same time as his economic conference I told him no."

The files suggestEpsteinwanted to pitch a digital currency project to Putin.

AFP found no evidence in the files that the meeting ever took place.

Following the release of documents, Poland said it would probeEpstein's alleged links to Russian secret services.

Asked whetherEpsteinwas a Russian agent, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "I'm tempted to make a lot of jokes about that version, but let's not waste our time."

Visits

The documents indicateEpsteinmay have travelled to Russia several times.

A Russian business visa was issued to the disgraced financier in June 2018, when Moscow was hosting the football World Cup. Travel itineraries show he had plans to watch Morocco-Iran in Saint Petersburg and Uruguay-France in Nizhny Novgorod.

The DOJ release also includes a 2011 Russian visa application.

The files also show older photos ofEpsteinposing in front of the luxury Hyatt hotel in central Moscow, and an undated image of his jailed associate Ghislaine Maxwell appearing to stand between two Russian soldiers.

Women

Flight data shows numerous trips booked forEpsteinand Russian women on his behalf. Many of the women were proposed toEpsteinby scouts and modelling agencies inside Russia, who often emphasised the women were young and blonde.

"She has a perfect body and 100% blond," one woman with a Russian name wrote toEpsteinin February 2010.

Months earlier the same person had promised in a separate email to "find a 'flower'" during a trip to Russia, which appeared to be financed byEpstein.

Various emails showEpsteinand his network exploited the desire of some young women to leave Russia and their precarious immigration status when they were in the United States.

Favours for officials

One of the most prominent Russians in the files is Sergei Belyakov a former deputy economy minister, graduate of the FSB security service's academy and who was on the organising committee of Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg.

Emails show Belyakov repeatedly askingEpsteinfor help attracting high-profile US guests to the forum, years afterEpstein's 2008 conviction for procuring sex from a minor.

"i will be all the help i can. who is your dream att=ndees? peter thiel? nathan myrhvold. ? reid hoffman.?"Epsteinwrote to Belyakov.

Epsteinalso asked Belyakov to gather information on a woman, who he said was "attempting to blackmail a group of powerful businessman in New York".

"Tomorrow I'm meeting with a guy who knows her/about her. if you have any details about case you have mentioned it could help," Belyakov said in reply.

"I do not know many people like you, who can open new horizons and prospects," the Russian wrote toEpsteinin May 2014 after an apparent meeting.

Another influential figure in the files is veteran Russian diplomat Vitali Churkin,Moscow's ambassador to the UN from 2006 until his death in 2017.

The documents suggestEpsteinand Churkin met several times in 2016-2017. In August 2016,Epsteininvited Churkin to a lunch with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and businessman Tom Barrack, now the US ambassador to Turkey.

The files also indicateEpsteinhelped 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,"Epsteinwrote in a message to the Russian diplomat, who replied: "U r a great teacher!"

Epsteinwas also angling for an introduction to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"you might suggest to putin, that lavrov , can get insight on talking to me. vitaly churkin used to . but he died,"Epsteinwrote to Jagland in 2018.

Sergei Belyakov and Maxim Churkin did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Originally published on France24