Russian President 4Vladimir Putin used his audience with President Donald Trump on Friday to suggest the two leaders’ nations collaborate on trade, even as he offered no details on plans to end the war in Ukraine.
“We have a lot of dimensions for joint work,” Putin told the press after meeting with Trump for three hours in Anchorage, Alaska. “It is clear that U.S. and Russian business cooperation has tremendous potential. We can offer each other so much in trade, digital, high-tech, and space exploration.”
He also pointed to the Arctic as an area for collaboration, saying it was time to “turn the page” on competition and build a relationship based on “cooperation.” Both Putin and Trump described the meeting as “productive,” but gave little information on their main objective: a ceasefire in Ukraine that could lead to a peace deal.
“The understanding we reached here will help us get closer to the goal of peace in Ukraine [but] all the root causes of the conflict must be resolved,” Putin said. He has long blamed NATO expansion and Western involvement in Ukraine for prompting the 2022 invasion.
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Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who joined the delegation, claimed Trump was open to economic cooperation. “It’s very important that President Trump outlined the significant economic potential of cooperation between the U.S. and Russia,” he said.
Trump, however, did not mention Putin’s proposals when he spoke to the press afterward.
Putin’s economic pitch comes as Russia faces a mix of resilience and strain. Western sanctions have cut Moscow off from many global markets, forcing it to redirect exports to Asia and lean heavily on energy sales to China and India.
Oil and gas revenues remain the backbone of Russia’s budget, but falling prices and the costs of sustaining the war have widened the deficit to its largest in three decades. Inflation and interest rates remain elevated.
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Russia has faced steep sanctions intended to isolate it from the global market since the start of the war. Trump recently announced a 50% tariff on Indian imports to the U.S., citing in part India’s purchase of Russian oil. He has threatened harsher third-party sanctions on other nations that do business with Russia, though so far he has not followed through.
At the same time, Russia has promoted self-sufficiency in agriculture, technology, and finance while deepening ties with non-Western partners. The ruble has been volatile, and the country faces labor shortages as skilled workers continue to leave. Yet, wartime spending and energy exports have helped Moscow stabilize key sectors and stave off economic collapse.
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