US weighs business deals with Russia before war's end as Congress moves on sweeping sanctions

Why it matters

The reported consideration of pre-war economic deals with Moscow would mark a significant departure from Trump's earlier public stance that the United States would not do business with Russia until the war is resolved, and could reshape the leverage dynamics in the negotiations. The parallel movement toward tougher sanctions in Congress, with Trump saying he will sign the House bill, points to a carrot-and-stick approach whose balance is still unsettled inside the administration. The territorial question — Putin demanding Russian control of parts of Ukraine that Kyiv refuses to cede — remains the central unresolved obstacle.

What happened

The Trump administration is weighing separate economic and business agreements with Russia before the war in Ukraine ends, according to The New York Times, which cited sources familiar with the internal discussions. Potential areas of cooperation under discussion include energy, investments, rare earth metals, aluminum, Arctic projects, and US company involvement in selling Russian natural gas to Europe, though the specific deals under consideration have not been publicly disclosed.

In a parallel track, the US House of Representatives approved a bipartisan sanctions bill associated with the late Senator Lindsey Graham. The legislation would give the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that buy Russian oil or gas and to sanction Russian officials, businessmen and financial institutions. Trump said he would sign the bill.

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on September 5 and traveled to Kyiv the following day to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the Moscow talks, Putin said Russian troops would seize the entire Donbas within months and warned that Russia was preparing strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure ahead of a harsh winter; he pushed back by noting Putin had made the same claim a year earlier. Trump spoke with Putin on September 8 after the envoys returned but did not call Zelensky, and on September 9 said after what he described as a 'wonderful conversation' that Putin was ready for a peace deal and expressed hope Zelensky would also agree.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian coverage frames the reported US approach as a significant departure from Trump's earlier promise not to do business with Russia until the war is 'resolved,' with some outlets characterizing the shift as a form of appeasement. Ukrainian sources stress the territorial red line — Putin's demand for control of parts of Ukraine that Kyiv refuses to cede — and quote a former Ukrainian ambassador to Washington, Valeriy Chaly, who called a trilateral leaders' meeting unrealistic and said Moscow would seek Ukrainian capitulation. Coverage centers Ukrainian voices, including Zelensky and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, who suggested that halting strikes on energy infrastructure and at sea could be the main concrete outcome of a possible Zelensky–Trump meeting around the UN General Assembly in New York in the third week of September. The DFC funding for Vodafone Ukraine and energy storage is treated as a separate, supportive US track alongside the contentious Russia-deal track.

How international sources describe it

International coverage, primarily via The New York Times as carried by Ukrainian outlets, centers the story on US policy deliberations inside the Trump administration and on the strategic logic of pairing economic incentives with sanctions pressure. Reports quote US officials describing a 'carrots and sticks' approach and the goal of persuading Russian elites to push for an end to the war. Coverage highlights internal disagreement within the administration, with some officials warning that economic incentives before the war ends could erode US leverage over the Kremlin. The envoy track — Witkoff and Kushner shuttling between Moscow and Kyiv — is framed as a search for alternative paths to advance stalled negotiations, while the House passage of the sanctions bill and Trump's stated intent to sign it are presented as a parallel pressure track.

Where reporting differs

Ukrainian sources differ on how to characterize the possible pre-war US–Russia deals: some emphasize the stated US rationale of demonstrating seriousness about resetting relations and giving Russian elites incentives to push for peace, while others frame the shift as appeasement of Russia and a departure from Trump's earlier promise. They diverge on the prospects for a leaders' meeting as well: the Ukrainian foreign minister sees a possible Zelensky–Trump meeting producing concrete steps like halting strikes on energy infrastructure and at sea, while a former Ukrainian ambassador calls a trilateral leaders' meeting unrealistic, saying Moscow would seek Ukrainian capitulation.

Background

Before last year's Alaska summit with Putin, Trump publicly said the United States would not make business deals with Russia 'until we settle the war'; the current consideration of pre-war deals is described as a departure from that position. Russian officials have proposed cooperation ideas to the White House since Trump returned to office, including deals on rare earth metals and aluminum, Arctic joint ventures, and US company involvement in selling Russian natural gas to Europe. In April, a deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence said Russia was committing strategic reserves for a new offensive and planned to fully capture the Donbas by September; in June he said the target had been pushed to December 31. Separately, the US International Development Finance Corporation will finance modernization of Vodafone Ukraine's telecommunications network and energy storage systems totaling 200 MW / 400 MWh at six sites in Ukraine, which the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy estimates could provide electricity to 600,000 households for two hours.