U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine involve multi-billion dollar oil deal, NYT reports

President Vladimir Putin, right, greets U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Jared Kushner, left, and Steve Witkoff, centre, prior to talks at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow, on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Trump administration’s talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

The deal, which is contingent on approval from the U.S. government and the Kremlin, involves a sprawling set of oil fields, refineries and gas stations around the world owned by Russian energy group Lukoil LKOH.MM, according to the report.

The White House, the U.S. Treasury Department and Lukoil didn’t respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.

The group pursuing the deal includes U.S. investor and billionaire Todd Boehly, two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with Kushner or Witkoff’s family, and an arm of the U.S. government, the newspaper said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the deal during a Sept. 5 meeting with Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin, the NYT said citing people familiar with the meeting. Putin proposed completing the deal as a way to show Russians they could do business with the United States, one of the people said.

Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra and Susan Fenton