New talks between the Trump administration and Russia to put an end to the war in Ukraine have reportedly grown to a multibillion dollar agreement between the two governments and the international community involving the Russian company’s energy firm Lukoil.
The transaction in question is expected to encompass a broad portfolio of Lukoil’s assets, such as the company’s oil fields, refineries and gas stations in several countries, according to a report. The agreement would have to be ratified by the US and the Kremlin.
Among the potential investor community, Los Angeles-based billionaire and investor Todd Boehly and two Middle Eastern business groups that have been looking for ways to do business with individuals or firms affiliated with the US negotiating team, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and a wing of the U.S. government is said to be among those among those expected to rise to the occasion.
Business ties were in the spotlight since both Witkoff and Kushner are two of the top US officials engaged in Ukraine war-related diplomacy with Moscow. In a meeting with Witkoff and Kushner on September 5 at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the proposed Lukoil transaction with the two, according to the New York Times.
Putin offered the deal as a possible example of how Russian and US businesses could keep going with business, people with knowledge of the meeting said to the newspaper.
Washington and Moscow have been holding discussions on possible measures to resolve the Ukraine conflict since then. On September 5, Witkoff and Kushner had a meeting with Putin in Moscow on a series of measures to de-escalate the conflict.
Outside of business hours, no one responded to requests for comment at the White House, the U.S. Treasury Department or at Lukoil.
The Lukoil deal is still a proposal and depends on the approval of the regulators and government authorities. There is no final agreement made yet, but the overall US-Russia talks on Ukraine remains on-going.