US offered Russia billions for a truce – NYT reveals details

The US offered Russia three economic concessions in exchange for a limited truce: the unfreezing of assets worth billions of dollars, a multibillion-dollar deal to sell part of Lukoil's assets, and permission for Belarus to resume exports of potash fertiliser. Ukraine put forward counter-conditions.

American negotiators offered Russia three large-scale economic benefits in exchange for a limited ceasefire, The New York Times reports. The first proposal is the unfreezing of Russian sovereign assets worth billions of dollars, with the possibility of returning to a previously discussed plan worth up to 100 billion dollars. The second is a multibillion-dollar deal to sell part of the assets of the Russian oil company Lukoil to investors from the Middle East, with some potential participants having business ties to the American negotiators. The third is permission for Belarus to resume exports of potash fertiliser. Ukraine did not reject the initiatives outright, but put forward conditions: guarantees in the event that Russia violates the truce, including additional military aid, and a demand to receive comparable financial funds from the frozen Russian assets.