US-Russia talks on Ukraine involve multi-billion dollar oil deal, NYT reports

The Trump administration’s talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The deal, which is contingent on approval from the US government and the Kremlin, involves a sprawling set of oil fields, refineries and gas stations around the world owned by Russian energy group Lukoil LKOH.MM, according to the report. The White House, the US Treasury Department and Lukoil didn’t respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. The group pursuing the deal includes US investor and billionaire Todd Boehly, two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with Kushner or Witkoff’s family, and an arm of the US government, the newspaper said. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the deal during a September 5 meeting with Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin, the NYT said citing people familiar with the meeting. Putin proposed completing the deal as a way to show Russians they could do business with the United States, one of the people said.