Senior American and Russian officials have talked about bringing a U.S. investor into Nord Stream, the pair of Baltic Sea pipelines that once carried Russian gas straight to Germany, Reuters reported Thursday, citing five people familiar with the discussions. The talks involved Jared Kushner, the U.S. special envoy and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Kirill Dmitriev, an adviser close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What's on the table
Kushner, who has been trying to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine, sees business ties as part of keeping a peace, according to the report, and a stake in the pipelines would let American investors earn money from gas moving to Europe after the fighting stops. He and Dmitriev have met in Moscow and New York in recent weeks. It isn't clear how much Nord Stream came up in those meetings, but two sources told Reuters it remains on the agenda.
The White House sounded more cautious. An official said any deal would have to go through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Treasury and "must benefit United States taxpayers and companies," adding that there had been "no Nord Stream discussions recently." A separate U.S. official told Reuters that, given the obstacles, a deal is unlikely in the medium term.
The two men have also discussed selling Lukoil's businesses outside Russia, from refineries to gas stations, to a group made up of the DFC and investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with U.S. sanctions lifted as part of the arrangement, according to two people cited by Reuters.
Why it would be hard
Both the U.S. and the European Union sanction the pipelines, so restarting them would be illegal unless those rules change. Trump could ease U.S. sanctions himself, Reuters noted, though that could get harder if Democrats win control of Congress in next month's midterm elections.
Germany is opposed. A spokeswoman for its economy and energy ministry said the country has found other gas supplies and that reopening the lines would need government approval, which it does not want to give. Before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Germany got more than half its gas from Russia through Nord Stream. The pipelines were idled after Moscow cut deliveries and then damaged by undersea explosions in September 2022.
Ownership is another snag. Gazprom, Russia's state gas company, holds 51% of the operating company, two German entities hold 31%, and French and Dutch firms own the rest, according to Reuters, and the German shareholders reportedly want to keep their stakes.
European politics cut both ways. Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party supports buying Russian gas again, and Dmitriev plans to meet its leaders early next year. Poland and the Baltic states, which feel most exposed to Russia, firmly reject new energy ties. Michael Kellner, a German lawmaker who handled energy policy after the invasion, warned the idea "threatens to be a dirty deal that will cost Europe dearly."