Starve Ukraine of Patriot missiles, make illegal side deals to sell Ukrainian lives and land for oil revenue, venerate Putin with a portrait in the Oval Office, then lie about their impact on gas prices. There is no moral bottom with Donald Trump.
On 18 September Donald Trump signed the Graham Act, a sweeping Russia sanctions law, and two weeks later the New York Times reported that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are discussing a multibillion-dollar sale of Lukoil's foreign oil fields, refineries and petrol stations to buyers with business ties to their own families.
Trump picked them over career diplomats, so the deal on the table is the deal he wants.
Europe should warn now, before the American licence for the talks expires on 22 October, that this arrangement prolongs the war. It teaches Putin that sanctions are a price to be haggled over, and a man expecting a discount has no reason to stop fighting.
The warning needs teeth, and they should bite on the American side too. Europe should declare that anyone who buys these assets, whether from Moscow, the Gulf or Manhattan, will be treated as a sanctions evader, shut out of European banks and markets and barred from the Lukoil refineries on European soil.
Russia has been executing a war campaign to bribe the Trump crime family and force Ukraine's capitulation for the past year. The russians chose the grifters Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to be their go-betweens after forcing out Keith Kellogg.
This never was a "peace effort."
This goes well beyond any normal "conflict of interest." Putin is offering a bribe, and he has already achieved a result: The current US policy, which is to stay quiet and refuse help for Ukraine, even as Russian terrorism increases and civilian casualties grow
“Wake up, dear Ukrainians. It’s time to use our heads.
At a moment when an exhausted and frightened nation is being sold the illusion of a ceasefire and the long-awaited peace.
They are telling us these fairy tales precisely when the enemy is escalating and openly threatening the entire world. They are shaping public opinion almost in unison with Putin’s rhetoric.
Putin is certainly not interested in peace. He wants blood �� to the point of destroying us completely. And today he is exploiting a window of opportunity created by jet-powered Shahed-type drones, targeting our rear and civilian infrastructure because, to put it mildly, he has had little success on the battlefield throughout 2026.
If we want to survive, we must be guided by rational analysis and mathematics, not impossible dreams. And we absolutely intend to survive.
And yes, the Defense Forces will close this current window of opportunity for the enemy through countermeasures, including rearmament. That takes time. How much? It depends on a number of factors – I won’t say more for now.
The front is difficult. The russian war machine keeps pushing and will continue to push, but we are destroying it at an increasing rate.
The army has hardened. Now it is time for the home front to grow up as well. Do not believe in illusions or miracles. We must rely on our own strength and on one another. That is the only way we will preserve our state and our Motherland.
And the shack these jackals are offering us under a white flag will be burned down on the very first dark night.
Those who understand, will understand.
We will stand. Moscow will fall.”
Magyar, Hero of Ukraine, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
I wish I could say I was surprised.
After reports Trump wants to make business deals with Russia before the war ends, it seems that the sale of Lukoil to a new potential buyer may benefit Trump allies.
Conflict of interest? There's no conflict at all, just Trump's interests.
Millions of Ukrainians suffer while so-called “peace talks” looking increasingly more like a guise for oil deals benefiting business partners of Trump’s inner circle.
NYT reports a proposed deal for Lukoil’s international assets involving groups linked to Kushner and Witkoff.
Just whose interests come first? Certainly not America’s, and definitely not Ukraine’s. 😡
Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine "have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to the two main U.S. negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner" reports @nytimes
https://t.co/MwH0aJQvSe
Russia and the U.S. are discussing a multibillion-dollar oil deal - The New York Times
The deal concerns the sale of Lukoil’s assets that were frozen abroad after U.S. sanctions were imposed.
Potential buyers include a group involving Todd Boehly, an American investor close to President Trump who donated $2 million to support the U.S. president’s political efforts; two Middle Eastern groups that have done business with Kushner or Witkoff’s family; and an arm of the U.S. government itself.
The NYT reports that the deal was discussed as part of the peace negotiations over Ukraine. According to sources, Putin raised the issue during a September 5 meeting with Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin. One source said Putin proposed moving forward with the deal to show Russians that they could do business with the U.S.
The American side responded that it would work on the matter, viewing it as a way to strengthen relations with the Kremlin while also helping lower global energy prices.
The potential value of the deal has not been disclosed. Lukoil previously valued its foreign assets at $20 billion. Because of U.S. sanctions, the purchase would require approval from the U.S. Treasury Department. The Trump administration would therefore play a decisive role in determining the buyer.
Putin puppet Trump diverts $52 million of Congress-mandated aid for Ukrainian defenders to authoritarian regimes in Latin America.
Trump serves the russian terrorist state, not Americans.
https://t.co/Q6Tm2Z7Pbw
Trump is once again blaming Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for the diesel shortages caused by his Iran war.
That being said, if Trump really wants to end Russian refinery strikes, he should get his buddy Putin to agree to a mutual ceasefire.
I won't hold my breath.
The catastrophic failure of the European governments to lead anything even remotely resembling a serious investment and development of modern weapons and munitions over the past 5 years is something that will lead to decades of negative consequences for their nations.