A senior administration official says the two envoys are negotiating the financial terms to secure "a substantial upfront payment and profits for the United States."
Talks to end Russia's four-year war in Ukraine now include a multibillion-dollar deal over Lukoil's oil fields, refineries and gas stations around the world, The New York Times reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised it with special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at a meeting on Saturday, Sept. 5. The package includes gas stations in New Jersey.
The investor group includes Trump donor Todd Boehly and two Middle Eastern firms that have done business with Kushner or with Witkoff's family.
Still open. The Times says it is not apparent whether Witkoff or Kushner would profit.
Catch up
Sept. 13 — Kyiv began preparing for peace talks to resume in October, with President Volodymyr Zelensky weighing the back channel run by Witkoff and Kushner.
20 earlier issues
- CIA chief Ratcliffe makes rare Moscow visit
- CIA chief reportedly warned Moscow against a limited Russian attack on NATO
- CIA chief secretly met Russian intelligence officials in Moscow
- UpdateCIA chief told Moscow to end the Ukraine war before Russia’s military and economy worsen
- Russian drone hits ammunition depot near Kyiv, killing 38; four remain missing
- Russia's finance minister returned to the G20 in person for the first time since the Ukraine invasion
- Witkoff and Kushner meet Putin in Moscow Sept. 5, Zelensky in Kyiv Sept. 6, carrying a U.S. proposal to end the war
- UpdatePutin orders 72-hour halt to strikes on Kyiv while Witkoff and Kushner visit, after a three-hour Kremlin meeting
- UpdateWitkoff and Kushner hold first Kyiv talks of the war, agreeing on next steps but no terms; announcement promised in weeks
- UpdateWitkoff says Moscow-Kyiv trip produced 'substantive progress' on scheduling more talks, with no date set and no terms disclosed
- UpdateRussia resumed strikes on Kyiv after the truce, killing 7; Trump and Putin then talked for an hour
- UpdateTrump says Russia's president wants a Ukraine peace deal after their phone call
- House schedules vote next week on authorizing 100% tariffs on Russian oil buyers
- UpdateVladimir Putin warned that sending European troops into Ukraine means war with Russia.
- Trump announced a Russia-Ukraine energy truce Kyiv calls conditional
- UpdateThe House voted 214-211 to advance 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil
- UpdateCongress sends Trump a bill letting him impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil
- UpdateTrump signs the bill authorizing 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil
- Trump and Zelensky agree to New York talks, expected Sept. 22
- UpdateZelensky asks Trump for a mutual halt on energy and port strikes
How the buyer group ties back to both envoys
- Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat (Qatar) are financing partners in Kushner's $4 billion resort project in Albania.
- A vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE's national security adviser, bought 49% of World Liberty Financial for $500 million; at least $31 million was slated for Witkoff-family entities.
- The U.S. International Development Finance Corp., a federal agency, is also in the group.