For peace in Ukraine: the Kremlin and the White House discussed energy agreements - Reuters
According to them, these agreements were proposed as an incentive to encourage the Kremlin to agree to peace in Ukraine, and Washington - to weaken sanctions against Russia. Russia was cut off from most international investments in its energy sector and from the conclusion of large transactions through sanctions imposed after a full -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But now officials from the White House and the Kremlin have discussed the possibility of returning Exxon Mobil to the Russian oil and gas project "Sakhalin-1", three sources reported. The issue of the possibility of buying US equipment for its LNG (liquefied natural gas), such as Arctic LNG 2, which is under Western sanctions, was also raised by Russia. Another idea was to buy US atomic icebreakers in Russia.
Negotiations took place during the visit of US Special Representative Steve Vitcoff to Moscow early this month, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his investment representative Kirill Dmitriev, three sources reported. They were also discussed in the White House with US President Donald Trump, two sources said. According to one of the sources, these agreements were also briefly discussed at the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Alaska on August 15.
"The White House really wanted to release a loud headline after the Alaska summit, announcing a major investment agreement. So Trump feels that he has achieved something," one of the sources said. Trump and his national security team continue to interact with Russian and Ukrainian officials for a bilateral meeting in order to put an end to the war in Ukraine, said the White House representative in response to the agreement.
Further public talks on these questions do not meet national interests, the official added. The representative of Kirill Dmitrieva refused to comment. Exxon Mobil has given up comments. "Rosneft" and "Novatek" did not answer the comments. Recall that US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose additional sanctions against Russia, if peace talks are not advanced, and to impose high duties for India, a large buyer of Russian oil.
These measures will complicate the preservation of the former level of oil exports by Russia. Trump's political style, based on the conclusion of agreements, has already been demonstrated in negotiations on Ukraine, when earlier this year the same officials considered the possibility of renewal of Russian gas supplies to Europe. These plans were blocked by Brussels, which made a proposal to complete the import of Russian gas by 2027.
Recently, the discussion has moved to the sphere of bilateral agreements between the US and Russia, departing from the European Union, which as a block invariably supported Ukraine. On the same day, when the summit on Alaska passed, Putin signed a decree that could allow foreign investors, including Exxon Mobil, to regain the particles in the Sakhalin-1 project. This is possible provided that foreign shareholders support the withdrawal of Western sanctions from Russia.
Exxon left Russian business in 2022 after invasion of Ukraine, having suffered losses of $ 4. 6 billion. In the same year, the Kremlin seized its 30%share in the Sakhalin-1 project in the Far East of Russia. The United States has imposed a few waves of sanctions against the Russian project "Arctic LNG 2", starting in 2022, and closed access to ice -class vessels that are needed to work in the region most of the year.
The Novatek Regulations of the Project belongs to the Novatek, which started working with lobbyists in Washington last year to try to restore the relationship and lift the sanctions. The Arctic LNG-2 plant restored natural gas processing in April 2025, although with low productivity. This year, five batches of liquefied gas were shipped from the project to tankers under sanctions. Previously, the production line was stopped because of difficulties with exports in conditions of sanctions.
The project provided three lines of LNG processing. The third line is in the planning stage and is expected to provide the technology. According to one source, Washington tries to encourage Russia to buy American, not Chinese technologies as part of a broader strategy for the alienation of China and weakening the relationship between Beijing and Moscow. However, China and Russia have announced a strategic partnership without restrictions a few days before Putin introduced troops into Ukraine.