A multibillion-dollar project to tap natural gas in Alaska carried out by the Trump administration has been revealed to have received secret funding from a sanctioned Russian company, according to a report. Polar LNG, a new American energy company, is seeking to buy Russian technology to extract natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope and ship it to allies abroad, presenting the project as a decidedly American venture. But Joel Riddle, who resigned as the company’s CEO last month, told the New York Times that he was misled. about the company’s source of financing. He said he had been led to believe the money came from a company in the United Arab Emirates, when at least some of it actually came from Novatek, one of Russia’s largest energy companies that is under partial US sanctions. Witkoff and Kushner’s willingness to consider such a deal is a striking example of how Trump and his inner circle have mixed the business of ending a war with the business of making deals. / Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS “Not only is it illegal, but it is not in the interest of the United States for Russian technology to control the commercialization of Arctic gas on the northern slope,” Riddle told the Times. However, President Donald Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, discussed the project with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during negotiations last month for a deal to end his war against Ukraine, people familiar with the talks told the Times. The Treasury Department would need to approve the use of its equipment in Alaska, and a sanctions bill passed by Congress named after the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina specifically targets Novatek because of the company’s ties to Putin. Trump waived the law’s sanctions last week. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin with Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of Novatek. / SPUTNIK / Alexander Kazakov/Kremlin via REUTERS Witkoff and Kushner’s willingness to consider such a deal is a striking example of how Trump and his inner circle have mixed the business of ending a war with the business of making deals, rather than focusing solely on ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But even a memo prepared for Polar LNG by outside law firm Baker Botts warned that perceived ties to Novatek could jeopardize licenses and other regulatory approvals, according to the Times. The memo also said that federal officials had already raised concerns that one of Polar LNG’s investors had ties to Novatek and may be acting on behalf of the Russian company. Ilya Zaslavskiy, a gas industry consultant who studies Russian sanctions and energy issues in Washington, criticized Polar LNG’s dealings with Novatek and argued that it should have no place in negotiations to end the war. undermine U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and our allies,” Zaslavskiy told the Times. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
