WASHINGTON — Top Russian and American officials, including U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner, have discussed bringing a U.S. investor into the Nord Stream gas pipelines that once delivered Russian gas to Germany, five people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
The discussions included Kirill Dmitriev, a close adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, who has been trying to broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine. The two men have met in Moscow and New York in recent weeks; it was unclear how much Nord Stream featured in those meetings, but two of the people said the topic remains on the agenda.
Kushner views doing business as central to restoring peace, according to the report, and such a deal would let American investors profit from energy flows to Europe once the war ends. Dmitriev has campaigned for a resumption of Russian gas sales to Germany and met last month with U.S. Energy and Treasury Department officials about potential energy initiatives; his representative declined to comment.
A White House official told Reuters that any deals “will have to be negotiated by Russia with DFC [the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation] and Treasury and must benefit United States taxpayers and companies,” while also saying there had been “no Nord Stream discussions recently.”
Major obstacles remain. The Nord Stream pipelines are sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union, making any restart illegal under current rules. Trump could waive or soften the U.S. sanctions, but if Democrats win control of Congress in next month’s midterm elections, such a move would become harder, a U.S. official said.
The report follows a New York Times account that U.S.-Russia talks on ending the Ukraine war have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on that report Monday but said energy cooperation was a topic between the negotiators. Russian gas flows through Nord Stream stopped after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Germany is Europe’s biggest energy consumer.
