US considers unfreezing Russian assets to revive Ukraine talks
The Financial Times reports the move would add to incentives already on the table, as fresh drone strikes on Russian refineries complicate the effort.
Published
The United States is considering unfreezing some Russian assets as a way to restart talks on ending the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported.
The idea would add to incentives Washington has already floated. US officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner pitched Russia a diesel supply deal meant to soften Moscow's position, but described it as leverage rather than a sign of progress. Russia has also offered to pause strikes for a Ukrainian election day, a vote Kyiv has not scheduled.
Moscow's own position has not moved. A source close to the Kremlin has said Vladimir Putin will not negotiate until Russia secures the remaining 11% of Donbas it does not yet control. Earlier claims of progress have unraveled before: crude fell on October 11 after President Trump said a Ukraine energy ceasefire had been reached, a claim Moscow never confirmed and Kyiv said it would only honor if Russia did too.
The backdrop got more complicated on Wednesday. Russia's energy minister, Alexander Novak, said drones had hit the Saratov and Ryazan refineries, strikes that undercut the diesel and ceasefire framework Washington had been pushing, which assumed Ukraine would stop hitting Russian refineries in exchange for eased sanctions. Separately, FBI Director Kash Patel arrived in Russia for talks on a track distinct from the Witkoff-Kushner channel.
Unfreezing assets would be a more concrete offer than the diesel proposal, moving from a sanctions-relief gesture toward an actual negotiating chip. But it arrives with Russia's Donbas demand unchanged after weeks of ceasefire claims Moscow never confirmed, and there is no sign yet that Moscow sees asset access as enough to shift that demand. Until that changes, it reads as another inducement added to a stalled track rather than a breakthrough.