A $20 billion Lukoil deal lands inside the US-Russia talks on Ukraine

Negotiations between the United States and Russia over Ukraine now include a multibillion-dollar deal for assets of the Russian oil company Lukoil, according to New York Times reporting published on Saturday^8,10. The figure put on the transaction is $20 billion^6,11. US investor Todd Boehly leads the consortium pursuing the assets².

Alongside Boehly, the reported participants include two Qatari businessmen, an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates and a US government financial agency⁶. Another account describes the bidders as a billionaire investor, a branch of the American government and two entities from the Middle East with existing business ties³. President Vladimir Putin raised the deal at a Kremlin meeting on September 5, attended by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law^9,10. A Russian envoy has publicly backed Kushner over the matter⁵.

Why it matters to investors

The bidders are political as well as financial. Boehly has donated $2 million to Trump’s political causes¹, and gave to both the inauguration and MAGA Inc, the Trump-aligned campaign committee⁴. One of the part owners of World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto venture co-founded by Witkoff, is an investor in the Russian business under discussion⁷.

The US government sits on both sides of the table. A branch of the American government is among the entities pursuing the assets³, a US government investment vehicle appears among the prospective investors⁵, and a US government financial agency is named in the most detailed account⁶. The reporting records no indication that either Witkoff or Kushner personally stands to profit¹¹.

What to watch

Three things. The first is whether the transaction stays tied to the negotiation, since it is currently described as interfering with the talks rather than running beside them⁶. The second is the sanctions question that any purchase of Russian oil assets by US-linked buyers raises, which the consortium’s composition puts in front of Washington rather than in front of the buyers^2,3. The third is disclosure: the named group spans a Trump donor, Gulf money and a federal agency, and the published accounts still differ on exactly who is in it^1,5,6. The deal entered the talks after a Kremlin meeting, so the diplomatic calendar and the commercial one are now the same calendar^9,10.