The U.S. reportedly attempted to entice Russia to make peace in Ukraine with numerous energy deals involving potential U.S. investment, sources told Reuters this week.
The discussed deals included the possibility of U.S. oil and gas company Exxon Mobil re-entering the Sakhalin-1 project, as well as the Kremlin purchasing U.S. equipment for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, five sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war in 2022, Russia has been largely cut off from striking any major deals with the West.
The talks were held between U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev during the envoy’s visit to Moscow in early August, according to Reuters.
The idea of the U.S. purchasing Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers was also floated as a possible deal, according to Reuters, and was briefly discussed during the Anchorage summit on August 15. Sakhalin-1 is an oil and gas extraction operation on Russia’s Sakhalin Island in the Pacific
Putin opened the project’s doors to foreign investment after the Anchorage summit, which would allow Exxon to potentially profit from the lucrative deal while further developing the operation’s production.
Trump’s negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have so far not produced any ceasefire or peace deal, while the President’s frustrations with Putin have continued to grow amid the relative silence since the two held their high-profile summit in Anchorage. Trump has previously threatened sanctions and tariffs against Russia if it continues to refuse coming to the peace table, but Moscow has so far remained defiant.
“President Trump and his national security team continue to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war,” a senior White House official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As many world leaders have stated, this war would have never happened if President Trump was in office. It is not in the national interest to further negotiate these issues publicly.”
Exxon Mobil declined to comment, while the State Department deferred to the White House when asked for comment.
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