Alaska Gas Project Part of Talks with Putin to End War in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a deal with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff last month that involved a startup company in Alaska that would liquefy and export natural gas to allies abroad as a pathway to end the war in Ukraine, according to sources of the New York Times.

Polar LNG, a startup pitching a plan to export natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope, received secret funding from Russian energy giant Novatek.

Novatek was set up to supply the technology for the project.

A $25 BILLION Alaska natural gas project is being promoted as a cornerstone of American energy security. But behind the scenes, Russian financing has surfaced, and senior executives have walked away from the project.

The New York Times reports that former Polar LNG CEO Joel… pic.twitter.com/feYmbXFSeN

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The CEO of Polar LNG, Joel Riddle, resigned from the company in September after learning the funding was coming from Russian energy giant Novatek instead of a company from the United Arab Emirates, as he was led to believe.

“It’s not only unlawful, but it’s not in the U.S. interest to have Russian technology controlling the commercialization of Arctic gas in the North Slope,” Mr. Riddle said in a brief interview.

Recent sanctions legislation specifically targets Novatek, but Trump temporarily waived the law’s Russia sanctions last week, saying the move was needed to keep peace talks alive.

The NYT reports that there is no indication Witkoff or Kushner knew about the ties between Polar LNG and Novatek.

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