Kathrine Frich
Moscow is said to have pitched sweeping business opportunities to figures close to US President Donald Trump as part of efforts to secure relief from American sanctions.
According to The Economist, the proposals were framed as a transformative economic partnership tied to talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
Arctic pitch
Citing informed sources, the magazine reported that the Kremlin suggested offering stakes in major Russian ventures to individuals within Trump’s orbit.
Projects allegedly discussed included Arctic oil and gas extraction, rare earth mining, a nuclear-powered data processing centre and even a tunnel beneath the Bering Strait.
Ahead of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska last August, a memo prepared for Russia’s Security Council reportedly outlined how to present what it called the “biggest deal” in bilateral economic ties.
The document described Russia as a “treasure trove of Arctic and northern resources” and claimed: “Everyone will make a lot of money” and that “Presidents Putin and Trump could potentially receive Nobel Prizes”.
$12 trillion claim
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said, citing intelligence findings, that Moscow had floated a package worth $12 trillion in exchange for sanctions relief.
The Economist questioned that figure, arguing it far exceeds realistic projections.
Even if trade returned to pre-2022 levels and US firms secured half of foreign corporate revenues in Russia, annual returns would total about $340 billion, the publication estimated.
Such income would need to continue for decades to approach $12 trillion, it noted, suggesting the figure may have been designed to appeal to Trump.
Diplomatic track
The report said Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Steve Whitcoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have been involved in contacts with Moscow, including meetings with Putin and Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Three rounds of talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine have taken place in recent months following a US-backed peace framework unveiled in November.
Zelensky has said Washington is pressing for a deal by June, ahead of US midterm elections later this year. “They want a clear timetable,” he said.
Sources: The Economist, Reuters, Digi24.
