The Trump administration’s talks with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to the two main US negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
asserted
that → end → negotiators
The deal, which is contingent on approval from the US government and the Kremlin, is for a sprawling set of oil fields, refineries and petrol stations around the world owned by Lukoil, one of Russia’s biggest energy companies.
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which → sprawl → companies
The leading group seeking the deal includes a US investor, Todd Boehly, who has donated $US2 million ($2.9 million) to US President Donald Trump’s political causes; two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with Kushner or Witkoff’s family; and an arm of the US government.
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that → lead → government
The months-long negotiations, which were described by eight people familiar with them, shed new light on Trump’s latest approach to settling a four-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands.
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that → describe → thousands
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
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people → speak → negotiations
There is no indication that Kushner or Witkoff themselves stand to profit.
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Kushner → be → ?
But the pending deal represents a striking intermingling of personal business ties with geopolitics, even for an administration that has regularly dismissed concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
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that → pende → interest
Russian President Vladimir Putin brought up the deal when he met with Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin on September 5, according to three people familiar with the meeting.
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he → bring → meeting
Putin proposed it get done as a way of showing Russians that they can do business with the US, according to one of the people.
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they → propose → people
The Americans responded that they would work on it, the person said, seeing it as a way to build goodwill with the Kremlin while also lowering global energy prices.
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person → respond → prices
But the deal is also a lucrative one for the buyers: US approval for the sale would release the assets from US sanctions, instantly increasing their value.
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approval → release → value
In Moscow, the decision on the deal is widely seen as Putin’s to make, though Lukoil is technically a private company.
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Lukoil → see → Putin
The upshot is that the giant transaction, involving assets as varied as oil fields in Cameroon, refineries in Europe and petrol stations in New Jersey, comes down to Putin and Trump.
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transaction → involve → Putin
Trump has been promoting the promise of business deals with Russia since early last year, describing the country as a “tremendous opportunity.”
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Trump → promote → opportunity
The deal again brings Trump’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency company – co-founded by Witkoff – into focus.
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deal → bring → focus
Witkoff and Kushner, who have travelled repeatedly to Russia for meetings with Putin, have argued that the potential to rebuild economic ties with the West could persuade the Russian president to compromise in Ukraine.
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potential → travel → Ukraine
The administration has recently signalled it is open to deals with Russia even before the war ends, as a way of showing it is serious about resetting the US’s relationship with Moscow.
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it → signal → Moscow
The Lukoil sale, people familiar with the matter say, is one of those deals.
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people → say → deals
In a statement, a senior administration official confirmed that Witkoff and Kushner had played a direct role in helping negotiate the financial terms of the investment by the federal government in the deal to ensure that it included “a substantial upfront payment and profits interest for the United States”.
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it → confirm → States
A spokesperson for Witkoff said that he “takes no salary and travels the world on his own plane, at his own expense, working on behalf of President Trump to negotiate peace and bring hostages home to their families”.
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he → say → families
She said Witkoff “has no conflict of interest and no financial stake in this matter”.
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Witkoff → say → matter
A stalled bid, and a new contender
Numerous potential bidders expressed interest in at least part of Lukoil’s international holdings when the assets went on the market last northern autumn, including US energy giants such as Chevron.
Washington private equity firm Carlyle reached a tentative agreement in January to buy a large share of the assets, after making the pitch that bringing Lukoil’s international portfolio under US ownership would further the Trump administration’s goal of “energy dominance”.
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bringing → stall → dominance
But in recent months, as US approval for Carlyle’s bid stalled, a different group emerged as the leading bidder: one led by Boehly, a billionaire supporter of Trump’s, alongside well-connected figures in the Middle East and the US government.
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group → stall → East
The members of the partnership were reported last month by The Financial Times.
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members → report → Times
Boehly is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and donated $US1 million to MAGA Inc, the Trump-aligned political committee, in December 2025.
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Boehly → donate → December
He gave another $US1 million through his investment firm, Eldridge Industries, to Trump’s inauguration.
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He → give → inauguration
The US government is taking a stake in the deal through the US International Development Finance Corp, an agency that invests in and lends to projects overseas.
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that → take → projects
A DFC official said in a statement that the potential Lukoil deal “would advance the Trump administration’s commitment to strengthen US economic security, advance US foreign policy and lower energy prices for everyday Americans”.
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deal → say → Americans
A major equity holder would be the Qatar-based conglomerate controlled by Moutaz Al-Khayyat and his brother Ramez Al-Khayyat, both of whom attended Trump’s inauguration in 2025 and who have since formed a partnership with Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, one of Trump’s daughters, to help finance a multibillion-dollar luxury hotel resort project in southern Albania.
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who → base → Albania
Another major stakeholder would be an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ top national security adviser, who controls another fund that purchased a large stake in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty, run in part by Witkoff’s son.
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that → base → son
Witkoff was a co-founder of World Liberty, and Trump’s sons are also involved in the company, which generated $US799 million for Trump last year, in part because of an additional cryptocurrency purchase worth $US2 billion that Sheikh Tahnoon’s affiliate made in 2025.
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affiliate → involve → 2025
Witkoff himself has sold off his stake in World Liberty, a person close to him said.
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person → sell → him
Tahnoon also helps oversee an Abu Dhabi investment fund called Lunate, which is among the largest stakeholders in the private equity firm Kushner set up after he left the White House at the end of Trump’s first term.
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he → help → term
This means Tahnoon is effectively a business partner of Kushner’s as well.
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Tahnoon → mean → Kushner
An ‘alarming’ set of entanglements
Hui Chen, a former US Justice Department prosecutor and a white-collar crime and ethics adviser who served until the start of Trump’s first term, said the connections between Witkoff and Kushner to players in the Lukoil deal illustrated why friends and family members of Trump’s should not be top foreign policy advisers.
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friends → serve → Trump
“This is an alarming and very concerning set of entanglements,” said Chen, who has also worked as a corporate compliance lawyer.
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who → say → lawyer
“And it means you have to question how the Trump administration is evaluating the different bidders involved here.
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administration → mean → bidders
Are the personal interests involved going to wrongly influence the outcome?”
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interests → involve → outcome
Lukoil’s international division, which is based in Austria, hired its own Washington-based consultant who is close to Trump, Bryan Lanza, who served as a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 election campaign and who now works at Mercury Public Affairs.
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who → base → Affairs
He was no longer working for Lukoil, a person familiar with the matter said.
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person → work → matter
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
