By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Russia has deepened a crackdown on European companies in response to Europe's support for Ukraine, while largely sparing US firms as Moscow courts business ties with Washington, Russian officials and US business people said.
Of 20 foreign-owned firms that Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed under temporary administration since Donald Trump's inauguration as US president in January 2025, only three were linked to the US, with the remainder controlled
by European companies, a Reuters analysis of official data shows.
A person close to Russian financial regulators said that while business negotiations were underway with Washington, it was not in Moscow's interest to take as tough a line on US firms as the Kremlin was adopting towards those from Europe.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday for talks aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine. Russian news agencies reported Putin told Witkoff he was interested in restoring economic ties with the United States.
Ukraine and its allies have voiced concerns that the US is backing away from Kyiv, and Trump has criticized Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries even as European leaders have lined up behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Russia, citing Europe's wartime support for Ukraine and involvement in "direct battlefield hostilities", has since last month taken control of local units of Swiss food group Nestle and retailers Auchan and Metro.
Last week it seized control of the local assets of four smaller companies from France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium.
"Their country of origin was one of the factors taken into account in making the decision," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that these countries were involved in "illegal expropriations of Russian property".
Nestle, which said in September it would take steps to protect its rights in Russia, declined to comment further. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said that the available information supported the perception that more European than US firms were being hit.
The Kremlin declined to comment on how it was treating US and European companies in Russia, while the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
'WE HAVE TRUMP'
Russia's relations with the Trump administration, meanwhile, have warmed. The US announced a deal this month to buy Russian diesel and other deals, including on gas, have been discussed at meetings in recent months. Trump signed an executive order on Saturday waiving key sanctions and tariffs on Russian goods.
Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev, a US-educated investment banker who heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and has pushed in talks for the return and expansion of US firms, hailed the move as a "historic moment".
Trump's envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner have used the prospect of multibillion-dollar deals with Russia as an incentive to push Putin toward a peaceful settlement since the start of talks in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in February 2025.
Dmitriev said last week Russia and the US would soon announce new joint initiatives that could move ahead before the war ends. The US has previously signalled that deals are unlikely while the conflict continues.
One person familiar with the situation said that some Russian officials who do not support peace efforts could yet push for the Kremlin's actions to include more US companies.
The RDIF's only current partnership with a US company is a joint investment with New York-listed Titan International in a tyre factory in Volgograd.
Another person familiar with the situation said Dmitriev has in private highlighted this as an example of a thriving US business in Russia.
Titan did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump's commitment to economic cooperation with Russia and ongoing talks have helped to protect the interests of US companies, two US business people in Moscow said.
American Chamber of Commerce Russia President Robert Agee said in December last year that European firms in Russia were less optimistic than American ones, citing European policy. The chamber estimates there are some 300 US firms left in Russia.
"We have Trump and they don't, and our hopes are linked to him," Agee told Russian media last year. Agee and the chamber declined to comment further for this story.
Russia did target some mid-sized US firms during its property redistribution drive after the start of the war. One report estimated Moscow seized more than $50 billion worth of private property from both Russian and foreign owners.
The European Commission in Brussels declined to comment on the number of EU firms being targeted relative to US ones, but said the recent asset seizures were without due process and amounted to "forced expropriation in all but name".
"This follows a clear pattern of economic retaliation," a Commission spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the moves showed that "Russia is not a safe environment for business".
"The EU has measures in place to respond. We can sanction those profiting from forced expropriations," they added.
(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and Dave Graham in Zurich; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Alexander Smith)
