# Washington Offers Russia Postwar Oil Deals for US Majors to Bring Putin Into Ukraine Talks

On Tuesday, the same day the US offer was reported, Putin spent much of a call with the leaders of Norway and Finland on medieval Slavic history and said little about a ceasefire, according to the Financial Times.

- Published: 2026-10-28T05:14:20.076Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-10-28/washington-offers-russia-postwar-oil-deals-for-us-majors-to
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Financial Times Markets](https://www.ft.com/content/d703aaae-f607-4b30-9830-ac2a25472d44?syn-25a6b1a6=1), [Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/a384acd1-c90c-4b71-bf7d-6c6e00bf9822?syn-25a6b1a6=1), [Kyiv Independent](https://kyivindependent.com/putin-lectured-nordic-leaders-on-russian-history-during-latest-call-ft-reports/), [TASS](https://tass.com/politics/2209201)

The White House has proposed renewed postwar business ties with Russia, including deals for major US oil companies, as an incentive for President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, [the Financial Times reported](https://www.ft.com/content/d703aaae-f607-4b30-9830-ac2a25472d44?syn-25a6b1a6=1). Proposals under discussion include reviving ExxonMobil's role in the Sakhalin-1 project and resuming oil deliveries to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline, both conditional on a ceasefire, according to [a GuruFocus summary of the reports](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/9145868/usrussia-talks-could-open-door-for-exxonmobil-xom-in-russian-oil-sector-amid-peace-negotiations).

The commercial track has been widening for weeks. Earlier in October, The New York Times reported that the talks covered a sale of Lukoil's foreign oil fields, refineries and filling stations to an investor group. According to [The Moscow Times' account](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/03/us-russia-talks-on-ukraine-involve-multi-billion-dollar-oil-deal-nyt-reports-a93862) of that report, the group includes US investor Todd Boehly, two Middle Eastern firms that have done business with the families of US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and an arm of the US government.

Moscow's public response has emphasized willingness to talk while making no commitment. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said that "dialogue will prevail" and that supporters of military conflict will be defeated, [TASS reported](https://tass.com/politics/2209201).

European governments are trying to keep their own channel open. In an October 27 call, Putin gave the leaders of Norway and Finland a long account of medieval Slavic history and made little mention of an immediate ceasefire, [the Financial Times reported](https://www.ft.com/content/a384acd1-c90c-4b71-bf7d-6c6e00bf9822?syn-25a6b1a6=1). The [Kyiv Independent](https://kyivindependent.com/putin-lectured-nordic-leaders-on-russian-history-during-latest-call-ft-reports/) highlighted the absence of any ceasefire offer. Neither report described a change in Russia's stated war aims.

## What this means

Washington is using access to Russian resources as a reward that it can grant and Europe cannot. That moves the terms of a settlement toward a commercial bargain between the United States and Russia. US majors and the investors bidding for Lukoil's foreign assets gain potential access. European companies that wrote off Russian assets in 2022, and Kyiv, lose leverage over the terms. Moscow wants sanctions relief without territorial concessions and is in no hurry, as Putin's history lecture to the Nordic leaders shows. The precedent is ExxonMobil's 2011 Arctic partnership with Rosneft, which sanctions ended in 2014, and Exxon's 2022 exit from Sakhalin-1. Both show that commercial deals with Russia last only as long as the political consensus behind them. The desk's read is that the commercial track moves faster than any ceasefire track. Expect more reported deal structures within weeks and no ceasefire before the US decision window on Iran, which absorbs Washington's attention. This read is wrong if Moscow agrees to a ceasefire date, or if Washington adds sanctions on Russian energy, which would signal that the incentive approach has been abandoned.

## What to watch

- Any US Treasury licence that allows talks or preparatory work on Sakhalin-1 or the Lukoil assets, which would turn press reports into legal steps.
- European Union statements on the Druzhba pipeline, since resuming flows to Europe would require EU consent that Washington cannot grant on its own.
- Whether Kyiv is included in the next round of US-Russia talks, which shows how far the settlement is being negotiated without Ukraine.