US-Russia Peace Talks Now Include Multi-Billion Dollar Oil Deal Tied to Trump Negotiators: NYT

(Ludovic Marin, Pool photo via AP, File)

President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Russia over ending the war in Ukraine have reportedly become intertwined with a massive oil deal involving business figures connected to his two leading envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The New York Times reported Saturday that a group seeking to purchase the international assets of Russian energy giant Lukoil includes billionaire investor Todd Boehly, who has donated $2 million to MAGA-related causes, as well as Middle Eastern investors with business connections to Kushner and Witkoff’s family. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation would also participate in the deal.

The proposed transaction, which still requires approval from both Washington and Moscow, covers Lukoil holdings around the globe, including oil fields, refineries, and gas stations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally raised the idea during a Sept. 5 Kremlin meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, according to the Times. Putin pitched the sale as a way to demonstrate that Russia could resume doing business with the United States, and the two Trump envoys agreed to work on it, believing a deal could improve relations with Moscow and help reduce energy prices.

“But the deal is also a lucrative one for the buyers: U.S. approval for the sale would release the assets from American sanctions, instantly increasing their value,” wrote the Times.

Witkoff struck a notably warm tone during that Sept. 5 meeting, thanking the Russian leader for hosting him and saying the memories of their meetings would be “right at the top” of the stories he would tell after retiring.

While the paper reported that there is no indication that either Witkoff or Kushner personally stands to make money from the transaction, the connections among the prospective buyers extend deep into Trump’s orbit.

Qatari businessmen Moutaz Al-Khayyat and Ramez Al-Khayyat, whose conglomerate would hold a major stake, are working with Kushner and Ivanka Trump on a multibillion-dollar luxury resort in Albania. Another major investor would be a fund controlled by Emirati royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has financial ties to both Kushner’s private equity business and the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency venture.

A senior administration official also confirmed that Witkoff and Kushner helped negotiate the terms of the federal government’s investment to secure “a substantial upfront payment and profits interest for the United States.”

Witkoff’s spokeswoman rejected any suggestion of a conflict, telling the Times that he “has no conflict of interest and no financial stake in this matter.”

This news comes just a day after Kushner took a swipe at CNN on social media, accusing them of publishing a “misleading” report about a “potential conflict of interest” involving his company’s investment in an Israeli financial company.

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