Bloomberg: The US exploring cooperation with Russiaʼs “Gazprom”

The United States is exploring cooperation with Russiaʼs “Gazprom” on international projects as it seeks closer ties with Moscow in an effort to broker a peace deal over the war in Ukraine.

This is reported by the American agency Bloomberg, citing sources.

Representatives of Moscow and Washington have held preliminary talks on cooperation with “Gazprom”, but it is not yet clear who is responsible for them, who is in charge of the contacts, and whether the administration of the US President Donald Trump is involved. These talks are still at an early stage.

Earlier, Russian leader Vladimir Putin mentioned that if the US and Russia agree on cooperation in the energy sector, then a gas pipeline for Europe “could be secured”. Trump also said that Washington is interested in the idea of cooperation with Russia, despite US and European sanctions against the Russian energy sector.

A US-”Gazprom” deal would be a major U-turn for Trump. He repeatedly criticized Europe for its dependence on Russian gas during his first term and led efforts to significantly expand sales of US liquefied natural gas to European countries. He has also vowed to hit Russia’s energy sector with sanctions if it does not agree to peace in Ukraine.

Bloomberg sources say “Gazprom” is hoping for US help to restart the Nord Stream pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany. “Gazprom” may also offer the US participation in projects in the Arctic region, such as liquefied natural gas production on Sakhalin, if sanctions restricting foreign investment are lifted.

Trumpʼs position on sanctions against Russia

The US President Donald Trump said on March 7 that he may impose large-scale sanctions against Russia, including banking sanctions, and impose new tariffs until there is a ceasefire and a peace agreement with Ukraine.

Such statements are not isolated. On February 7, his special representative Keith Kellogg said that the US president was allegedly ready to double US sanctions against Russia to stop the war.

The day before, on March 6, the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promised that the United States would impose sanctions on Russian energy if it contributed to a ceasefire in Ukraine. However, there were no new restrictions against Russia today, except that Trump extended sanctions against Russia for a year over the war in Ukraine.

Bloomberg, citing sources, wrote that the US will not lift sanctions against Russia in the absence of a noticeable change in Moscowʼs behavior. But it is possible that some of them will be eased if the Russians begin to take the measures that the US seeks.

Later, Reuters reported that the White House was looking at options for a possible easing of sanctions against Russia. Sanctions agencies are preparing a proposal to lift sanctions on individual legal entities and individuals, including a number of Russian oligarchs.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.