GOP senators warn Bessent against ‘shell game’ proposals in Lukoil divestment talks

FIRST ON FOX – A group of Republican senators is urging Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that any sale of Russian energy giant Lukoil’s foreign assets results in permanent divestment from Moscow, warning against what they describe as potential "shell game" proposals that could return control to Russia. 

In a letter Monday, Sens. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., voiced support for President Donald Trump’s sanctions strategy targeting Russia’s energy sector, but raised concerns that some proposed deals may undermine the administration’s foreign policy goals.

The senators said certain proposals under consideration could amount to temporary "caretaker or custodial arrangements" designed to revert ownership back to Lukoil if U.S. sanctions are lifted or tensions between Washington and Moscow ease.

They also warned that other potential transactions could involve a "buy-and-flip" approach that might place strategic oil and gas assets into the hands of U.S. adversaries, including China, potentially jeopardizing American national security and global energy stability.

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The letter follows the Treasury Department’s October 2025 sanctions on Lukoil and the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s requirement that the company divest its non-Russian holdings to non-blocked entities. 

It also comes amid ongoing divestment talks, including Lukoil’s Jan. 29 announcement of a conditional, non-exclusive agreement to sell its subsidiary Lukoil International GmbH, which holds its international assets, to the Carlyle Group, a U.S. investment firm.

The transaction would not include assets in Kazakhstan, according to the company.

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Lukoil International GmbH maintains operations and minority interests in oil and gas fields in Iraq, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Egypt and the Republic of the Congo, among other countries.

It also has stakes in several pipelines and owns refineries and thousands of retail stations across nearly 20 European countries.

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The senators described the portfolio as strategically significant to global energy markets and warned that any sale must ensure the assets remain permanently outside Russian control.

"We cannot allow U.S. adversaries to regain control over these valuable assets that have funded so much of Russia’s aggression and must prioritize bids from firms that seek to invest in and build these assets to further American national interests," Sheehy, Daines and Barrasso wrote.