MOSCOW FOOL

Leak Reveals Trump Plot for New Gift to Putin

Trump appears to have found a new way to line Putin’s pockets.

Donald Trump is pushing to reopen Europe’s energy lifeline to Vladimir Putin, potentially flooding the Russian leader with billions of dollars in gas revenue while offering American investors a lucrative cut.

The explosive proposal would revive Russian natural-gas exports to Europe through pipelines crossing its enemy Ukraine, using a U.S. intermediary to get around sanctions, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Under the plan, Russia would deposit gas-sale proceeds into an escrow account in a third-party jurisdiction, preventing the Kremlin from using the money to bankroll its war, a senior U.S. official said.

Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff floated the plan during September visits to Moscow and Kyiv, the Journal reported, pitching renewed gas sales as a way to coax Putin into an energy ceasefire ahead of winter.

The proposal could give Putin a powerful financial incentive to stop attacking energy infrastructure, while allowing Ukraine to collect transit fees and giving U.S. investors a potentially lucrative role in the trade.

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But it would also blow a hole in Europe’s efforts to break free from Russian energy after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

EU legislation requires Russian natural-gas imports to be phased out by the end of 2027. European leaders have repeatedly warned that dependence on Moscow leaves the continent vulnerable to a hostile power.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has called for a permanent ban, saying in October: “I certainly would not trust Russia. Even if there were peace tomorrow, which we all hope for.”

But the Trump administration is betting that Europe’s resistance will crumble under pressure from soaring energy costs as a result of his war with Iran, and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The conflicts have caused fuel prices to spike globally ahead of the November 3 midterms. AAA figures show the average price of gas in the U.S. at $4.17 a gallon, while diesel stands at $6.29.

Trump has waived congressionally approved sanctions to allow the U.S. to import Russian diesel, in an attempt to cut fuel costs.

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The EU says the Iran conflict has added 100 billion euros—around $112 billion—to Europe’s energy bill.

But European officials remain scathing about Trump’s plan.

One senior Nordic official told the Wall Street Journal that restarting Russian gas purchases would contradict everything Europe stands for, while another compared the proposal to Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Adolf Hitler.

The plan marks a sharp reversal for Trump, who once condemned Germany’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline as making Berlin “captive to Russia” and imposed sanctions on the project in 2019.

But now, his administration sees renewed Russian gas exports as a possible key to the peace deal Trump previously promised he would strike within “one day” of returning to the White House in January 2025.

A previous energy ceasefire supposedly brokered by Trump collapsed after Russia ignored it and continued to attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Despite pressure from Trump, Ukraine then resumed its own strikes on Russian plants.

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The renewed strikes have added urgency to efforts to secure an energy ceasefire before planned peace talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi in mid-November.

Moscow has so far rejected American attempts to reach a deal.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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