Scoop: Trump envoy’s conflict of interest: a Russia-linked business partner
Steve Witkoff, Trump's Special Envoy, has a serious and unreported conflict of interest in Russia-Ukraine negotiations: his relationship with Ukraine-sanctioned businessman Len Blavatnik.
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Trump and Witkoff share deep passions for three things:
Real estate. Golf. And oligarchs who made their money in Russia.
Steve Witkoff, appointed as Donald Trump’s special envoy, has repeatedly shown not just an affinity for Moscow but has openly stated that he “spent a lot of time talking and developing a friendship and relationship” with Vladimir Putin — a dictator responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainians.
After a meeting with Putin, he told Trump that the fastest way to a ceasefire would be to give four Ukrainian territories to Russia – views that drew direct condemnation from Ukraine’s president this week.
"I think Mr. Witkoff has chosen to follow the strategy of the Russian side. I see this as extremely dangerous because he — whether consciously or unconsciously, I don’t know — is spreading Russian narratives. In any case, this does not help,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
But what has gone under the radar is that Witkoff has personal stakes at play, as he has business ties to Leonard (‘Len’) Blavatnik, an influential businessman with significant relationships in Kremlin circles – and who was sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023.
Blavatnik, who became a U.S. citizen in 1984 and later also held U.K. citizenship, built his initial fortune during Russia’s large-scale privatization period, shortly after the USSR collapsed.
Witkoff’s connections to Blavatnik raises an important question: can someone genuinely serve as a fair-minded peace negotiator when a business partner has ties to Russian oligarchs?
"The danger from Witkoff's experience… is heightened because he is a mere ‘special government employee’ – that is, a part time consultant to the US government. Because he is not committed to spending even the full Trump term of four years within government, Witkoff is almost certainly thinking about his next moves in business even while flying to Moscow,” said Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a watchdog group. “It is far too possible that Witkoff is currently planning investments in partnership with Russian or Russian friendly money while conducting ‘diplomacy' with Russia.”
A spokesperson for Blavatnik pushed back on the notion that Witkoff's relationship with a businessman sanctioned by Ukraine represented a conflict of interest.
"I don’t know when they last spoke," said Lisa Shields, a spokesperson for Access Industries. "Mr. Blavatnik and Mr. Witkoff have never spoken about the Russia-Ukraine negotiations. Any suggestion to the contrary is wholly fictitious."
She also added that "no specific explanation has been given for [the Ukrainian government's] sanctions against Mr. Blavatnik" and that Blavatnik "has absolutely no 'significant relationships' in Kremlin circles."
Blavatnik and Witkoff’s close business ties
Before becoming Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff built his own fortune as a real estate mogul at the helm of the Witkoff Group, the New York-based real estate development company he founded in 1997.
Among Witkoff's recurring business partners is Len Blavatnik, a billionaire born in the former Soviet Union who now holds U.S. and U.K. citizenship. Together they have made fortunes through real estate development in New York and Florida.
Blavatnik and Witkoff’s business entanglements are recent and ongoing.
While Witkoff claims to be distancing himself from his business, there’s no evidence of this – and transparency watchdogs say that even the steps he’s purporting to take are not enough to prevent a conflict of interest.
In 2021, Witkoff and Access Industries company, established by Len Blavatnik in 1986, acquired the One High Line project in New York. The deal consisted of two buildings, 236 condominiums and 120 hotel rooms.
This year, they announced that One High Line surpassed $1 billion in sales, it the fastest residential project in downtown New York City to do so in ten years.
Notably, this partnership has continued after Ukraine sanctioned Len Blavatnik for ten years in December 2023.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), together with other government agencies, imposes sanctions on individuals and entities that “harm the interests of the state,” the SBU told The Counteroffensive in a letter. Apart from Len Blavatnik, Ukraine has applied sanctions to other businessmen, such as Roman Abramovich, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg and Oleg Deripaska.
In January 2024, the Witkoff Group and Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries bought the troubled Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Club in West Palm Beach, getting a $75 million loan to do so. Afterwards, they divided it into two parts: Dutchman’s Pipe Golf Club and the Belgrove hotel. Dutchman’s Pipe Golf Club was launched in November 2024, while Belgrove Resort & Spa, a luxurious new resort in West Palm Beach, opened on March 6, 2025.
The grounds for the Ukraine’s Blavatnik sanctions have not been officially released. The Counteroffensive sent a letter to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine asking why Blavatnik was sanctioned. They said that the decision was made in response to a proposal submitted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), submitted in a letter containing restricted information marked 'For Official Use Only.'
"A more detailed disclosure of the matters in question cannot be provided," the SBU told The Counteroffensive.
Blavatnik made his money alongside Russian oligarchs, and is sanctioned by Ukraine
Although Blavatnik is said to have sold his last major asset in Russia when it invaded Ukraine in 2022, his past and connections with Putin’s friends could not be erased so easily.
Blavatnik’s ties to Russia go back decades, as he returned shortly after the USSR collapsed during the 'aluminum wars' on the invitation of his friend and now-billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.
There, Blavatnik took part in post-Soviet privatization and co-founded with Vekselberg the Access-Renova company, which later was expanded with the arrival of another businessman close to Putin, Mikhail Fridman.
Their consortium later partnered with British Petroleum (BP) and created TNK-BP, which became one of the largest oil companies in Russia before its 2013 acquisition by Rosneft, a Moscow-based energy company controlled by the Russian government through the Rosneftegaz holding company.
Blavatnik spent years building his fortune with influential Russian oligarchs in Putin’s inner circle, including Viktor Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska — all of whom have been sanctioned by the U.S. due to their Kremlin ties.
Officially, Blavatnik denies any connections to the Kremlin.
A spokesperson for Access Industries has said in the past he has no engagement in Russian politics or in the Russian government.
But the origins of Blavatnik’s wealth were explained by his friend and business partner Vekselberg, who in 2019 said that Blavatnik made “almost all his money [in Russia], and then just made investments outside.”
Forbes’ 2025 billionaires list estimates Blavatnik’s net worth to be $29.9 billion, while Witkoff’s net worth is estimated to be $2 billion.
The White House and Witkoff Group did not respond to our requests for comment on this story.
Witkoff has conflicts of interests over the Russia-Ukraine conflict
After Witkoff became a Special Envoy, he claimed to be in the process of divesting his real estate company and crypto assets to his sons. The Witkoff Group has tried to make Steve Witkoff’s son, Alex Witkoff, the face of the company since his father joined the Trump administration.
It remains unclear whether Witkoff has completed the process of divesting his assets, as no official confirmation has been provided regarding the transfer of ownership rights.
And even so, it’s not a step that neutralizes the conflict of interest.
“Formally divesting ownership to one's sons does not significantly reduce the risk of a conflict of interest. There is no way of ensuring that father-son conversations never touch upon management of the family financial interests or that ownership will not revert back in the future,” said Josh Rudolph, the head of German Marshall Fund’s Strategic Democracy Initiatives, a group focused on defending democracy and countering authoritarian threats.
U.S. ethics laws generally bar federal government employees from participating in negotiations or decision-making if they have business ties with any of the parties involved in the negotiations.
But the U.S. code affords Special Government Employees special privileges that can permit them to participate in matters that could affect their financial interests so long as the matter will not have a “special or distinct effect” on the employee other than as part of a general industry or class of persons.
SGEs are generally required to file financial disclosures if they are classified above a certain level of federal employment and serve over 60 days, but they don't necessarily have to file a public version.
The Office of Government Ethics has no certificate of divestiture available for Witkoff as of April 18, though disclosures go through an agency review process that can take several weeks or even months.
"It would be all too easy for the Kremlin to funnel money to the Witkoff or Trump families—or at least give the Witkoffs or Trumps hopes for future enrichment — through dark crypto channels or opaque real estate dealings. It poses an obvious and grave national security risk for Witkoff to construct dark money channels — the crypto firm in the second half of 2024 and the real estate ventures in early 2025 — precisely when he is moving into the position of leading high-stakes negotiations with Moscow and Tehran, malign kleptocracies known for funneling covert money to key officials," said Rudolph.
Despite this, according to the New York Times, Trump has entrusted him to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. But his lack of diplomatic experience and expertise is showing: in an interview with Tucker Carlson, for example, Witkoff forgot the names of the regions he was negotiating over.
On April 11, Witkoff visited Moscow and met with Putin. After that, two U.S. officials and five other sources told Reuters that Steve Witkoff told Trump the quickest way to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine is to support a plan granting Russia control over four eastern Ukrainian regions it tried to annex in 2022.
The developments raise a disturbing question: can Trump’s envoy, with business ties to a billionaire who built his initial wealth in Russia and is sanctioned by Ukraine, serve as a genuinely neutral mediator in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine?
Correction:
The Counteroffensive made a number of errors in the original version of the article.
We mistakenly interpreted the language used by the SBU to explain why sanctions are issued by the Ukrainian government. Sanctions are imposed on individuals who "harm the interests of the state," the SBU told us in a letter.
We also got the details of a 2025 project in Florida wrong. It was Alex Blavatnik, the brother of Len Blavatnik, who partnered with the Witkoff Group and Sandor Scher.
Additionally, we provided an incorrect opening date for The Belgrove Resort & Spa in West Palm Beach. It officially opened on March 6, 2025.
We apologize for the errors.
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Wow, the corruption of this administration is blatant and outrageous. Ukraine cannot trust the US government. Being “friendly” with Russia might be good for these billionaires’ pockets but it is contrary to our national security, not just Ukraine’s. Great reporting, thank you.
Not surprised by this at all. But I think a better question to end with is: Does Trump and his administration even want a genuinely neutral mediator in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine? I think the evidence is stacking towards the negative.