A top Russian official defended Jared Kushner after suggestions of potentially murky dealings in negotiations to end Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. negotiators tasked with ending the war, allegedly have ties to business interests seeking to acquire Russian oil assets as part of a potential Ukraine peace deal.
After Kushner refuted claims that he was involved in a similarly beneficial deal in Israel on X, Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev replied to the post, defending Kushner.
“Jared is a Peacemaker. Peacemakers get attacked for peacemaking because warmongers lavishly fund those attacks. But Peacemakers will prevail and warmongers will lose. 🕊️,“ Dmitriev wrote.
The New York Times reported Saturday that Kushner and Witkoff have been negotiating a deal for U.S.-backed interests to acquire Russian assets, including vast swathes of oil fields, as part of a sweeping energy deal.
Among those who stood to benefit from the deal were a Trump campaign donor and a Qatar-based conglomerate controlled by Moutaz Al-Khayyat and his brother Ramez Al-Khayyat, who both attended Trump’s second inauguration in 2025.
The brothers have since partnered with Kushner and Ivanka Trump to help finance a multibillion-dollar luxury hotel resort in southern Albania.
Other stakeholders in the potential deal have ties to both the Trump family and Witkoff through the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty, which is run in part by Witkoff’s son.
On Thursday, CNN published a report about Kushner’s private equity firm having a stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns.
The network reported that Kushner had managed to skirt scrutiny of business interests that could conflict with his government responsibilities because his peace envoy position was voluntary.
Kushner denied the claims on X on Friday, saying, “Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together, and pursue peace. That work is too important.”
Putin’s envoy responded to Kushner on Saturday as the Times piece about the Russia deal was circulating.
A spokeswoman for Witkoff told the Times that he, too, does not draw a government salary. She said Witkoff “has no conflict of interest, and no financial stake in this matter.”
The White House, Kushner, and Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This is an alarming and very concerning set of entanglements,” Hui Chen, a former Justice Department ethics adviser, said of the Russian oil deal. “You have to question how the Trump administration is evaluating the different bidders involved here.
“Are the personal interests involved going to wrongly influence the outcome?” she asked in the Times.
