Washington discusses Russian deals for US oil majors in Ukraine peace talks

{"text":[[{"start":14.234,"text":"The US and Russia are discussing a potential return by American companies to the Russian oil market as part of wider talks to end Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine."}],[{"start":23.86,"text":"The White House and the Kremlin have suggested that after the war ends, a joint venture involving US and Russian oil majors could be resumed off the coast of Sakhalin, an island in the Far East, according to people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":37,"text":"They were also talking about involving the American majors in a plan to resume sales of Russian oil to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline, they added."}],[{"start":45.4,"text":"The potential deals are part of a broader US push to end Putin’s full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year, by offering incentives to come to the negotiating table. US officials have repeatedly stated the ventures would not happen until the war was over."}],[{"start":61.152,"text":"Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, discussed potential business deals with Putin during a meeting in St Petersburg in early September, the people said. At a subsequent visit to Moscow last week, Witkoff wrote “Business Deals” on his notepad, among other notes, according to photographs published by the Kremlin press pool."}],[{"start":80.215,"text":"A US official told the FT: “President Trump’s representatives have discussed economic proposals with both sides of the war — including a postwar economic framework to create long-term growth and investment opportunities for Ukraine, and potential opportunities for postwar economic collaboration with Russia.”"}],[{"start":98.68,"text":"“Economic agreements would be included in and subject to a comprehensive peace framework that stops the killing in this brutal war; nothing is finalised,” the official said."}],[{"start":108.56,"text":"Moscow viewed the business deals as incentives for Trump to normalise ties with Russia before the war ends, two of the people said. The Kremlin has made little secret of its willingness to resume economic co-operation with the US even as it continues to wage war in Ukraine."}],[{"start":124.52,"text":"Many of the deals being discussed face long odds due to Putin’s intransigence on ending the war and US companies’ wariness about re-entering the Russian market."}],[{"start":132.6,"text":"ExxonMobil, the only US company involved in the massive Sakhalin-1 project, said last year it was in talks with Russia about compensation for the seizure of its 30 per cent stake, but had no plans to resume operations in the country. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":150.44,"text":"Other proposals include resuming access for US airlines to Russian airspace for transit and overflights, which would significantly reduce fuel costs. Another suggests US companies restarting co-operation with Russia on producing and supplying titanium, a crucial component in civilian aircraft."}],[{"start":169,"text":"Boeing previously had a Russian titanium joint venture but suspended the arrangement after the Ukraine invasion and has since diversified its supply chains for the metal, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment."}],[{"start":182.44,"text":"The ideas, among several being discussed by US and Russian officials without direct Ukrainian or European participation, would mark a dramatic shift in Moscow’s relationship with the west after years of isolation. The US has said Russia and Ukraine would have to agree an end to the war before full economic restoration could proceed."}],[{"start":202.209,"text":"The US has already struck a deal to import Russian diesel, paused new sanctions on Moscow’s energy exports and pressured Ukraine to stop drone strikes on Russia’s refineries."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":211.92,"text":"The current discussions build on proposals Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner discussed with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special economic envoy, during talks over a Ukraine peace plan late last year. Dmitriev estimated the potential projects’ value at $14tn in February."}],[{"start":229.16,"text":"That push ultimately stalled shortly afterwards, as Ukraine resisted Russian demands to make territorial concessions as a precondition for talks."}],[{"start":237.16,"text":"“Dmitriev’s plan was waiting until the war froze, but the clock is ticking and war is not stopping, so they have made a decision to move forward now,” one person briefed on the business deals said."}],[{"start":253.675,"text":"Though Putin has not shown any indication he will moderate his hardline negotiating position, the US hopes to make progress towards a potential deal at three-party talks with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi next month, the first since February."}],[{"start":261.84,"text":"The talks will focus on possible security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine after the war ends. The US has previously linked the future guarantees for Ukraine to territorial concessions but has since indicated it will not push Kyiv to surrender land at the negotiating table, according to two people briefed on the talks."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":276.806,"text":"The US and Russia have also discussed the potential sale of oil major Lukoil’s international assets to White House-connected investors; a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Alaska with the involvement of Russia’s Novatek; and resuming gas supplies to Europe through what remains of the Nord Stream pipelines, all but one of which were destroyed in a 2022 bombing."}],[{"start":297.88,"text":"The White House and the Kremlin have also discussed a broader deal to relax sanctions on potash fertilisers and export them through Baltic ports — a move that would require the EU to lift sanctions."}],[{"start":310.12,"text":"Another potential idea would transfer the management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine to a US entity that would split the energy between Ukraine and Russia."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":321.68,"text":"European diplomats have repeatedly made clear to US counterparts that they oppose relaxing any sanctions or making business deals with Russia before the war ends. They have stressed that any decisions affecting EU interests cannot be taken without Europe’s approval."}],[{"start":337.492,"text":"The US has for years sought to encourage Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian energy. The EU has agreed to phase out Russian gas imports, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has ruled out reviving the Nord Stream 2 pipeline."}],[{"start":350.48,"text":"A European diplomat expressed deep scepticism that economic deals were sufficient to persuade Putin to end the war in Ukraine. “It’s not about money,” they said. “It’s about humiliation and control.”"}],[{"start":362.875,"text":"Previous US efforts to move Russia towards a peace deal found little traction with Putin, a former Trump administration official said. “The negotiating team designed genuine offers to create opportunities for Russia to end the war, but couldn’t overcome Putin’s own paranoia,” the person said. “None of this ever had a chance of becoming real.”"}],[{"start":380.92,"text":"“I can’t see any of it lasting contact with the real world,” said Geoffrey Pyatt, former assistant secretary of state for energy resources in the Biden administration, who expressed scepticism that any major publicly traded company would be eager to return to Russia in the current climate."}],[{"start":397.8,"text":"Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Dmitriev declined to comment."}],[{"start":405.52,"text":"This article has been amended since publication to reflect that Kirill Dmitriev estimated the potential projects’ value at $14tn in February."}],[{"start":418.76,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793177916_3306.mp3"}