US, Russian officials discussed energy deals alongside latest Ukraine peace talks

US and Russian government officials discussed several energy deals on the sidelines of negotiations this month that sought to achieve peace in Ukraine, according to five sources familiar with the talks, Report informs referring to Reuters.

These deals were put forward as incentives to encourage the Kremlin to agree to peace in Ukraine and for Washington to ease sanctions on Russia, they said.

Russia has been cut off from most international investment in its energy sector and from striking major deals due to sanctions following the Ukraine invasion that began in February 2022.

The officials discussed the possibility of Exxon Mobil re-entering Russia’s Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, three of the sources said.

They also raised the prospect of Russia purchasing US equipment for its LNG projects, such as Arctic LNG 2, which is under western sanctions, four sources said.

None of the sources could be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the negotiations.

Another idea was for the US to purchase nuclear-powered icebreaker vessels from Russia, Reuters reported on August 15.

The talks were held during US envoy Steve Witkoff’s trip to Moscow earlier this month when he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, three of the sources said. They were also discussed within the White House with US President Donald Trump, two of the sources said.

These deals were also briefly discussed at the Alaska summit on August 15, one source said.

“The White House really wanted to put out a headline after the Alaska summit, announcing a big investment deal,” said one of the sources. “This is how Trump feels like he’s achieved something.”

Trump and his national security team continue to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war, a White House official said in response to questions about the deals. It is not in the national interest to further negotiate these issues publicly, the official said.