WASHINGTON: Top Russian and U.S. officials, including U.S. Special Envoy Jared Kushner, have held talks about bringing a U.S. investor into the Nord Stream pipelines that delivered gas to Germany before Russia invaded Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The discussions included Kirill Dmitriev, a close adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, the people said.
Kushner, who has been trying to broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine, views doing business as central to restoring peace. Such a deal would enable U.S. investors to profit from energy flows to Europe once the war ends.
Dmitriev and Kushner have met in Moscow and New York in recent weeks. While it was unclear to what degree they discussed Nord Stream on those occasions, the topic remains on the agenda, two of the people told Reuters.
"Any deals will have to be negotiated by Russia with DFC (U.S. International Development Finance Corporation) and Treasury and must benefit United States taxpayers and companies," a White House official said when asked about the pipeline discussions.
There had been "no Nord Stream discussions recently," the official told Reuters.
Dmitriev, who has campaigned for a resumption of Russian gas sales to Germany, met last month with U.S. Energy and Treasury Department representatives to discuss potential U.S.-Russia energy initiatives. A representative for Dmitriev declined to comment.
It remains unclear how interested Washington is in pursuing the restarting of Russian gas flows to Germany, which is Europe's biggest energy consumer.
A U.S. official said that given the obstacles, a deal is unlikely in the medium term. The Nord Stream gas pipelines are sanctioned by the U.S. and the European Union, making any restart illegal.
Trump could waive or soften U.S. sanctions, but if Democrats win control of Congress in next month's midterm elections, this would become harder.
Germany and other European countries, which are spending billions of euros rebuilding their military to defend themselves from Russia, would strongly resist reopening Nord Stream.
A spokeswoman for Germany's economy and energy ministry said Nord Stream and Russian gas were sanctioned in Europe and that Germany had found alternatives. She said any reopening of the pipelines required government approval and this was not desired.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Germany bought more than half of its gas from Russia through the two Nord Stream pipelines. They were mothballed after Moscow throttled supply to Europe and were blown up in a series of underwater explosions in September 2022.
Kushner and Dmitriev have also been discussing the sale of a collection of businesses, from oil refineries to petrol stations in Europe and elsewhere, owned by Russian energy company Lukoil, said two other people familiar with the matter.
Under that plan, a consortium of the DFC federal investment agency and investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates would buy the assets, while U.S. authorities would lift sanctions, those people said.
"On Lukoil, Steve (Witkoff) and Jared (Kushner) worked with DFC to negotiate a substantial upfront payment and profits interest for the United States," said a White House official.
