The plan involves Warnig reaching out to Donald Trump’s team via American businessmen as part of back-channel efforts to end the war in Ukraine and deepen U.S.-Russia economic ties.
Some senior Trump administration officials see it as “part of improving relations with Moscow,” a source said.
A U.S.-led investor group has drafted a deal with Gazprom if sanctions lift, the FT source added.
European Union leaders learned of these Nord Stream 2 discussions in recent weeks, prompting talks among several countries’ officials.
But Warnig’s plan faces hurdles: the United States must drop sanctions, Russia must resume gas sales, and Germany must greenlight deliveries to buyers.
Warnig told the Financial Times he “hasn’t engaged in discussions with American politicians or business representatives” and “follows rules as a U.S.-sanctioned individual.”
During his first term, Trump fiercely opposed Nord Stream pipelines and Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, imposing sanctions in 2019 on managing companies.
In 2021, Joe Biden’s administration briefly lifted those curbs to mend ties with Germany, only to reinstate them before Russia’s full-scale Ukraine invasion.
Nord Stream sabotage
Late on Sept. 26, 2022, explosions wrecked three of four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline threads under the Baltic Sea in neutral waters. Though idle, they held technical gas.
Poland and Ukraine blamed Russia; the Kremlin pointed at “Anglo-Saxons” and denied involvement.
German media, citing sources, claimed a yacht used by suspected saboteurs belonged to Ukrainians, with one renter living in Ukraine. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine had no role in the blasts.
“I’m the president and give orders accordingly. Ukraine did no such thing. I’d never act that way,” Zelenskyy said in June 2023.
In February 2024, Danish and Swedish authorities closed their probes into the blasts, citing insufficient grounds for criminal cases.
Germany issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian suspect, who left Poland for Ukraine in July 2024, per Polish prosecutors.
The Washington Post, citing sources, named ex-intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi as the operation’s coordinator, a claim he denied.