Moscow Denies Potential US Business Deals Before Ukraine War Ends

Russia said Saturday it has received no signal from Washington that the U.S. is prepared to sign business agreements with Moscow before the war in Ukraine is settled, challenging a report that the White House is considering such a shift.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RIA Novosti that the message reaching Moscow from the Trump administration remained unchanged: Ukraine first, economic cooperation later.

“I don't know anything about such signals, and it would be strange to receive them, because we still hear exactly the opposite stance, namely, 'Let's agree on Ukraine and move forward, and everything else later,'” Ryabkov said.

Moscow Disputes Reported Shift

The comments followed a New York Times report saying the White House was considering concluding business agreements with Russia while fighting in Ukraine continues.

Citing two people close to the peace talks and an anonymous U.S. official, the newspaper said the administration was examining economic agreements as both a signal that it was serious about resetting relations with Moscow and a potential incentive for members of Russia's elite to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

No details of any agreements currently under consideration have been made public.

The reported approach would differ from President Donald Trump's position ahead of his August 2025 summit with Putin in Anchorage, when he said economic cooperation would have to wait until the war was settled.

Economics and Ukraine

Ryabkov said Moscow still understood the U.S. position as sequential, with the Ukraine conflict concluding first.

“Everything else, as they say, will be attached. This also applies to economic aspects, economic projects, too,” he said.

Russia has nevertheless discussed potential economic cooperation with the U.S. as part of the broader diplomatic process.

On September 5, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks with Putin in the Kremlin lasting more than three hours.

Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said afterward that the meeting covered Ukraine as well as “economic issues and potential major mutually beneficial Russian-American projects.”

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a key Russian interlocutor on economic issues with the U.S., also participated.

No breakthrough on Ukraine was announced after the meeting.

Washington Weighs Incentives and Pressure

Possible areas for U.S.-Russian economic cooperation floated during the past year have included energy, Arctic projects, rare earths, aluminum and other large investments.

According to The New York Times, Witkoff and Kushner have been looking for additional leverage as negotiations remain stalled, particularly over territory in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine has rejected simply withdrawing from territory Moscow demands but does not fully control.

The reported consideration of economic incentives also comes alongside renewed pressure on Russia.

Congress has passed a sanctions bill targeting the country's energy sector, adding another element to Washington's approach.

Some U.S. officials and analysts cited in the report have argued that offering economic benefits before a settlement could reduce American leverage.

Others inside the administration view incentives as compatible with continued pressure.