Putin seduces Trump with oil and the Arctic for Peace in Ukraine

Of course, the parties promised to create the corresponding working groups in order to continue the contacts. This is the first meeting of senior representatives of the two countries after Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

According to the Kremlin foreign policy counselor, Yuri Ushakov, who, together with the Foreign Minister, Serguéi Lavrov, lThe conversations of the Russian side, the encounter in the Saudi capital “has not gone badly,” although nothing decisive has been agreed. For the Russian minister he was even “useful,” although he warned that “mutual understanding does not mean positioning.” The meeting lasted four and a half hours and, in the opinion of Ushakov, “a very serious dialogue on all matters of the agenda was maintained.

However, the presidential counselor said that “it is unlikely that the meeting between Putin and Trump takes place next week.” In his words, »we are prepared for this- the summit of presidents- but it is still difficult to speak of a specific date«. In statements to Russian media, the presidential counselor said that »separate teams of Russian and American negotiators about Ukraine will come into contact in due time«.

NATO Armed Forces

Lavrov announced to journalists at the end of the meeting, regarding the shipping to Ukraine of European Peace Troops, that «the deployment of troops of Armed Forces of NATO countriesbut under another flag, under the flag of the European Union or under national flags, nothing changes. It remains, of course, unacceptable to us. “

In front of Ushakov and Lavrov on the table, were the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, The United States National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, and the special emissary, of the White House for the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Likewise, it was agreed to “a mechanism for mutual consultation to avoid possible friction” in relations between the United States and Russia, “to designate high -level teams to start working shortly for an arrangement in Ukraine” and “explore economic opportunities that could arise after an agreement with kyiv ».

In this regard, already judging by the statements made yesterday in Riad by Kirill Dmítriev, also a member of the Russian delegation, banker and general director of the Russian Fund for Direct Investments of Russia (RFPI), he considers that “we have observed that President Trump And his team are a group of problem solving, people who have already addressed a whole series of great challenges very quickly, much efficiency and very successful ».

DMítriev believes that there is a “wide field of cooperation” between Moscow and Washington for commercial and economic exchange. Analysts believe that the main asset that Russia intends to put on the table in these negotiations is precisely to open the country to US investors, eliminate all obstacles in this regard and raise the sanctions on both parties. Everything that Kremlin did not do fully for decades and created serious problems in relations with Washington. Then the Chinese model was rejected and now it seems that a review is offered to correct the old course.

Faced with kyiv’s rejection to sign with Washington an agreement for the exploitation of minerals and rare earths, DMítriev has announced that the Kremlin has offered Trump a great agreement on Russian “natural resources.” Moscow believes that American oil companies can return to the country and also a great interest in joint projects with Americans in the Arctic.

Oil production

According to their statements, «the large oil companies in the United States had very successful businesses in Russia (…) we believe that at some point they will return, because why were they going to reject the opportunity to access the natural resources that Russia granted them? ». “We also need to carry out joint projects, for example in the Arctic and in other areas,” he added.

According to their calculations, “US companies would have lost $ 300,000 million for sanctions against Russia (…) Joe Biden administration spread a lot of false information about the state of the Russian economy.” He also recalled that, before the invasion of Ukraine, only a large American company participated in the production of oil in Russia: Exxon Mobil, which has 30% of the Sajalín-1 project. After the imposition of the sanctions, the company announced its withdrawal from the project, but could not sell its participation. DMítriev believes that he could now return to Russia and resume his activity thanks to that 30% he controls.

DMITRIEV paper

Dmítriev is considered a person close to Putin’s family, whose daughter, Ekaterina Tíjonova, studied with Natalia Popova, wife of the RFPI director. After graduating, the two worked together. Dmítriev, 49, studied in the United States in Harvard and Stanford in the 1990s. .

Before being designated by Putin to direct the RFPI, created in 2011 to facilitate foreign investment, played an important role in the first contacts with the USA when Trump was elected president for the first time in 2016, as well as in the establishment of Relationships with Saudi Arabia, which led to an agreement on the price of oil within the framework of the Expanded Forum of OPEC+producers. DMítriev has met several times with the Saudi heir prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, who helped mediate in an exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States this month.

In the note distributed by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the meeting in Riyad, it is also pointed out that “a dialogue has been established to agree on ways of resuming economic cooperation, including energy, space and other areas of mutual interest.” The statement also in the “need to normalize relationships.”