Witkoff and Kushner Offered Putin Belarusian Potash Exports in Exchange for Limited Ceasefire — NYT

Reform.news · 11 October 2026, 00:00

https://reform.news/en/witkoff-and-kushner-offered-putin-belarusian-potash-exports-in-exchange-for-limited-ceasefire-nyt/

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner proposed allowing Belarusian potash exports as part of a package of economic incentives intended to persuade Moscow to agree to a limited ceasefire in Ukraine. The New York Times reports this, citing officials familiar with confidential diplomatic negotiations.

According to the newspaper, the administration of Donald Trump launched a new diplomatic process in late September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Ukrainian officials were surprised by how far the US negotiators went in their proposals to Russia.

Washington presented three economic incentives in hopes of securing a limited ceasefire, either covering energy infrastructure or at sea. One of them involved reviving an earlier US proposal that would allow Belarus to export potash fertilizers.

The article does not specify which restrictions were to be lifted or under what conditions. The newspaper also does not give the exact date when the potash initiative was discussed or say whether representatives of Minsk took part in the talks.

Another proposal involved unfreezing billions of dollars in Russian sovereign assets held in the West. According to NYT sources, the money was considered an upfront incentive for partial ceasefires rather than a reward for implementing them. A similar initiative was discussed last year, when the proposal involved unfreezing up to $100 billion.

In addition, the Americans revived a plan to sell some of Lukoil’s assets to a group of Middle Eastern investors. According to the newspaper, some of the investors have business ties to the US negotiators.

Kyiv sought not to reject the proposals outright but demanded guarantees. In particular, the Ukrainian side proposed either providing Ukraine with an amount equal to the Russian assets being unfrozen or guaranteeing additional military assistance if the ceasefire was violated.

However, by October 10, the diplomatic efforts had failed to produce a breakthrough. Ukrainian officials said their delegation’s talks with Kushner and Witkoff in Miami ended without results.

The previous day, October 9, when those meetings were due to begin, Trump held a lengthy phone call with Vladimir Putin and announced that the United States would buy Russian diesel fuel. This was followed by the lifting of US sanctions on its exports until April. As the NYT notes, the Kremlin apparently offered no concessions in return.

That same evening, Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov said Moscow would consider when negotiations might resume. Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the diesel decision as weak and said the Ukrainian negotiating team was being used as a “smokescreen.”