Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,
Although Putin might agree to some trade-offs in Ukraine as the quid pro quo for these deals, it's not guaranteed, but they can still be clinched so long as Trump has the will to waive more sanctions without a ceasefire first.
Putin's top aide Yury Ushakov confirmed after Steve Witkoff's latest meeting with Putin that "Other large-scale joint economic projects, which offer significant prospects for bilateral cooperation, were also discussed in detail; some of them are now nearing the implementation stage." This followed Putin courting the return of US investment to Russia's resource sector in early 2025 and Kirill Dmitriev recently confirming talks on nuclear-powered data centers.
Here are the five most promising joint opportunities:
* Oil & Gas
US stakes in Russia's energy infrastructure and companies can incentivize it to get the EU to return Russia's frozen assets through the sequence proposed here. They'd also serve as security guarantees against Ukra
