A new type of controversial deal is reportedly brewing as Donald Trump is gearing up to meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska tomorrow.
Never one to shy away from a real-estate-style proposal, the US president is preparing to offer his Russian counterpart access to both Ukrainian and American rare earth minerals on a plate.
This package of economic proposals aimed at incentivising the Kremlin to agree to a ceasefire is the latest money-making opportunity for Putin and his cronies.
It will include opening up Alaska’s natural resources to Russia and lifting some US sanctions on its crumbling aviation sector, The Telegraph has reported.
Another key element of Trump’s plan will see the Kremlin gaining access to rare earth minerals in occupied Ukrainian territories.
Ukraine is one of the few European countries with high deposits of lithium, holding one-third of the continent’s reserves and around 3% of the global reserves.
Russia currently controls about 17,981 square miles of the territory known as Donbas, made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
It also occupies almost all of Luhansk and three-quarters of Donetsk where Ukraine’s most valuable lithium deposits are located.
This comes after Trump pressured Ukraine into signing a questionable-at-best minerals deal that grants the US access to the nation’s mineral wealth.
It was signed at the end of April, and it reflected the Trump administration’s transactional approach to mineral diplomacy.
In addition to Ukraine’s resources, Trump is also considering offering Putin opportunities to tap into the valuable natural resources in the strait that separates it from the US.
Alaska, separated from Russia by just three miles of the Bering Strait, is estimated to hold significant undiscovered oil and gas reserves, including 13% of the world’s oil.
UK government sources told The Telegraph that such incentives could be acceptable to Europe so long as it was not seen as rewarding Russia.
One said: ‘The sense is that it has to be presented to align with public opinion around this, it cannot be seen as a reward for Putin.’
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed earlier this morning that Trump and Putin will discuss the ‘huge untapped potential’ for Russia-US economic ties as well as the prospects for ending the war.
Ushakov told reporters that the summit would start at 7.30pm UK time, with the two leaders meeting one-on-one, accompanied only by translators.
He added that delegations from the two countries would then meet, and the presidents would give a joint news conference.
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