Russian leader plans to discuss economic ties, in appeal to Trump’s business instincts, alongside future of Ukraine
Russian leader plans to discuss economic ties, in appeal to Trump’s business instincts, alongside future of Ukraine
When Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meet in Alaska, the Russian president will set out to woo his US counterpart and dangle financial incentives for siding with Moscow over Ukraine.
The hastily arranged summit, organised at Putin’s request, will be his first invitation to meet a US president on American soil since he visited George W Bush in 2007.
The surprise announcement caught Kyiv and its European allies off guard but for Putin it signals a preliminary diplomatic victory: a face to face with Trump requiring no concessions, and a step towards his goal of deciding Ukraine’s future at the table with Washington.
Key to Putin’s message on Friday will be an appeal to Trump’s business instincts. On Thursday, the Russian president’s adviser Yuri Ushakov said the leaders would discuss the “huge untapped potential” in Russia–US economic relations.
“An exchange of views is expected on further developing bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic sphere,” Ushakov said. “This cooperation has huge and, unfortunately so far, untapped potential.”
Notably, alongside a cadre of veteran diplomats, Putin is bringing two prominent economic advisers. The inclusion of the finance minister, Anton Siluanov, is particularly notable: he has led Russia’s response to western sanctions, the removal of which the Kremlin has consistently set as a key condition for any peace deal.
“Putin sees this as a chance to show Trump that he is more than ready to agree to peace if the conditions are right. He wants to portray [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy as the one prolonging the war,” said a former high-ranking Kremlin official who, like several other sources, spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Putin knows Trump sees the world through a business lens, and will pitch a peace on his terms as the gateway to lucrative opportunities,” the former official added.
If past encounters between the two leaders are any guide, it may be Putin, the former KGB operative, who edges the upper hand in Alaska.
“Trump is exactly the kind of leader Putin believes he can always strike a deal with, an authoritarian in the mould of [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, Xi Jinping or [Narendra] Modi,” said a Russian academic close to the foreign ministry, citing the leaders of Turkey, China and India respectively.
Analysts and insiders say the summit, convened after weeks of largely fruitless talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, has been organised on too short a timescale to deliver any meaningful outcome. Russia’s foreign ministry reiterated on Wednesday that Putin’s conditions for ending the war remain unchanged: the full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from key regions and the renunciation of Kyiv’s Nato ambitions. Kyiv has ruled out these demands from the outset.
