High-ranking Russian and American officials discussed the resumption of gas supplies from Russia to Europe through the Nord Stream pipelines and the possibility of involving an American investor in these projects. This was reported by Reuters on Thursday, October 8, citing five informed sources. According to the agency, this topic was raised during negotiations that took place in recent weeks in Moscow and New York between Russian President Vladimir Putin's special representative Kirill Dmitriev and U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. As noted by Reuters, Kushner considers business agreements one of the key conditions for restoring peace, and such a deal would allow American investors to profit from energy supplies to Europe after the war ends. ## The White House Denies Talks on Nord Streams However, Reuters writes that it is still unclear how interested Washington is in resuming Russian gas supplies to Germany. In the medium term, the restart of Nord Stream is unlikely, one of the agency's sources stated. Both pipelines are under sanctions from the U.S. and the EU, and Germany and other European countries, which are allocating billions of euros to strengthen their armed forces to defend against Russia, would strongly oppose the resumption of Nord Stream operations. In response to a Reuters inquiry, the White House emphasized that any deals with Russia would need to be coordinated with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, adding that there have been "no discussions regarding Nord Stream" recently. ## Germany Is Not Interested in Russian Gas Supplies For her part, a representative of the German Ministry of Economy and Energy emphasized in a conversation with Reuters that sanctions apply to Nord Stream and Russian gas in Europe and that Germany has found alternative sources of supply. According to her, any resumption of pipeline operations requires approval from the German government, which is not interested in this. Some German lawmakers believe that such a commercial deal would strengthen Moscow's position in its war against Ukraine. "This threatens to turn into a dubious deal that will cost Europe dearly," Reuters quotes Bundestag member Michael Kellner from the opposition party Alliance 90/The Greens, who has been responsible for Germany's energy policy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The Americans and Russians will share the profits," he added. Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany received more than half of its gas consumption from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. It was no longer used after Moscow reduced supplies to Europe in September 2022. Soon after, the Nord Stream 1 and the yet-to-be-commissioned Nord Stream 2 pipelines were damaged in a series of underwater explosions. ## Kushner and Dmitriev Discussed the Sale of Lukoil Assets According to Reuters, Kushner and Dmitriev also discussed the sale of several assets owned by the Russian energy company Lukoil, including refineries and gas stations in Europe and other regions. Under this plan, a consortium that includes the American DFC and investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates would acquire these assets, and U.S. authorities would lift sanctions on the Russian company, sources reported. The White House confirmed to Reuters that Trump's special envoys Stephen Witkoff and Jared Kushner were working with DFC to coordinate "a significant upfront payment and the U.S. share of the profits."
