It appears that interest in punishing Troost for helping the Russian oil industry evade western sanctions isn’t just limited to the UK and Switzerland but might now be extending to the United States.
To hold Russia accountable for its atrocities in Ukraine, the US government imposed financial sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the Russian government, military or critical areas of the economy necessary to support Putin’s illegal war effort. These sanctions are intended, among other things, to weaken the Russian government and to prevent them from violating human rights and committing war crimes using the money coming from the revenue of selling Russian oil.
Following Niels Troost & his associates being sanctioned in the UK, he hired a well-known DC lobbyist Ankit Desai. Desai, a former Biden aide, was considered to have close ties the administration and appeared like a suitable choice to clear Troost’s name and allow him evade responsibility. But after six months of work, Desai’s most recent legally-mandated Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings showed that he was terminating their business relationship at the end of last September.
It’s very uncommon for a well-connected lobbyist to dump his client after such a short amount of time. Did he discover that Troost was in deep water and would soon be subjected to sanctions by the US? Or given Niels Troost’s sordid reputation, did Desai decide to pull the plug out of respect for his own professional reputation? A third possibility is that Niels Troost is simply running out of cash to pay Desai’s fees ($600k according to the paperwork) and one wouldn’t expect a high-flyer to Ankit Desai to do charity work. Regardless, we should cheer Desai for his decision to terminate his relationship with Troost. It seems like in DC the clock is ticking for a certain Geneva-based oil trader.