Ukraine Talks Reportedly Broaden to Include Multibillion-Dollar Lukoil Deal

Reports published on October 3 said the Trump administration’s negotiations with Russia over ending the war in Ukraine had expanded to include a proposed oil deal valued in the billions of dollars. The arrangement concerns oil fields, refineries and petrol stations owned by the Russian energy group Lukoil in locations around the world, and would require approval from both the US government and the Kremlin.¹²

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A worldwide portfolio

The proposed transaction encompasses a broad portfolio of Lukoil assets, including production sites, refining facilities and retail stations in multiple countries. Both reports said the deal remained dependent on authorisation from Washington and Moscow. The available accounts do not say that either government has approved it or that the transaction has been completed.¹²

The Straits Times reported that the bidders include billionaire US investor Todd Boehly, two groups from the Middle East and a US government entity. The newspaper also reported that the two Middle Eastern groups had previously conducted business with Jared Kushner or with the family of Steve Witkoff. Those details were not independently confirmed in the other source.¹

The same report said the proposed transaction would benefit Middle Eastern business executives connected to Witkoff and Kushner. It did not identify those executives in the material available here. The assertions about the participants, their relationships and the potential beneficiaries remain based on a single source report.¹

Proposal raised at the Kremlin

The Straits Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the oil proposal during a September 5 meeting at the Kremlin with Witkoff and Kushner, who were described as US negotiators. According to that account, Putin presented completion of the deal as a way to demonstrate to Russians that commercial dealings with the United States were possible.¹

That account places the proposed commercial arrangement within the wider talks between the Trump administration and Russia about ending the war in Ukraine. The reported link between the negotiations and the oil proposal has not been independently established by the second source, although both sources describe the same worldwide Lukoil assets and the requirement for approval from the United States and the Kremlin.¹²

Official confirmation pending

The Straits Times reported that requests sent after normal working hours to the White House, Treasury Department and Lukoil received no response. The dossier contains no response from the Kremlin and no direct statement from Putin, Witkoff, Kushner, Boehly or the Middle Eastern groups named or described in the reporting.¹

Several central elements therefore remain unconfirmed, including whether the Ukraine negotiations formally expanded to cover the transaction, the precise roles of the reported participants and the claim that particular Middle Eastern executives would benefit. What is consistently reported is the proposal’s scope: Lukoil-owned oil fields, refineries and retail stations around the world, subject to approval by Washington and the Kremlin.¹²