Trending claims

Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine largely halted earlier in 2026 because Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner shifted their focus to the war with Iran.

Speaking via video link at the YES Annual Meeting in Kyiv in September 2026, Jared Kushner stated that a peace deal was ready if Ukraine withdrew to the line Vladimir Putin had laid out, but that Ukraine was unwilling to do so.

Ahead of a 2025 Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump stated that Russia would not be doing business with the U.S. until the war in Ukraine was settled.

The Kremlin has been promoting business opportunities to the White House since President Trump returned to office.

Following a meeting on September 5, 2026, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said that economic issues and potential major Russian-American projects were discussed with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

In 2026, Ukrainian officials proposed naming the Donbas region 'Donnyland' to appeal to Donald Trump for stronger opposition to Russia's territorial demands.

Balazs Jarabik, a former EU diplomat in Kyiv now with the firm R. Politik, said that signs indicate the United States is "considering bigger concessions toward Russia."

Russian officials have proposed deals to the U.S. involving rare earths, aluminum, Arctic joint ventures, and the sale of Russian natural gas to Europe.

The Russia sanctions bill passed in September 2026 was championed by Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July 2026.

The Russia sanctions bill would allow the president to levy tariffs up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil or gas and would impose sanctions on Russian officials, businesspeople, and financial institutions.

Senator Darline Graham, who replaced her late brother Lindsey Graham in his Senate seat, stated that the Russia sanctions bill would "increase the president’s negotiating leverage."

The U.S. Congress passed the Russia sanctions bill with a bipartisan majority vote of 262 to 159.

President Trump has indicated he will sign the Russia sanctions bill passed by Congress in September 2026.

In the week of September 17, 2026, the U.S. Congress passed a sanctions bill targeting Russia's energy sector.

In 2025, President Trump pledged that business deals with Russia would not occur "until we get the war settled."

On September 16, 2026, Representative Michael McCaul stated that the new sanctions bill "will cripple Russia’s war machine and finally bring Putin to the negotiating table."

According to two people close to the talks, the Trump White House is considering signing business deals with Russia before the war in Ukraine ends.

Ukraine will not withdraw from its territory that Russian President Vladimir Putin insists Russia must control before the war ends.

In September 2026, President Trump's envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin at the Kremlin.

During a September 2026 meeting, Jared Kushner told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Putin had made a similar claim about military progress in Ukraine a year prior.