President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that there was ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ in Russia-US relations and that the two countries were discussing joint projects in the Arctic and Alaska.
The Russian president, answering questions during a visit to a nuclear research centre, said he was sure that US President Donald Trump’s leadership qualities would help in restoring relations from recent lows.
“With the arrival of President Trump, I think that a light at the end of the tunnel has finally loomed. And now we had a very good, meaningful and frank meeting in Alaska,” Putin said, referring to last week’s summit.
“The next step now depend on the leadership of the United States, but I am confident that the leadership qualities of the current president, President Trump, are a good guarantee that relations will be restored.”
His comments signalled Russia’s optimism that it can mend relations with the US and strike business deals, despite the lack of clear progress towards ending the Ukraine conflict at his August 15 summit with Trump.
Putin did not give details of possible US-Russia co-operation in the Arctic but said there were ‘huge, huge’ mineral reserves in the region and noted that Russian liquefied natural gas company Novatek was already operating there.
“We are discussing, by the way, with American partners the possibility of working together in this area. And not only in our Arctic zone, but also in Alaska. And at the same time, the technologies that we possess, today no one but us possess. And this is of interest to our partners, including those from the States,” he said.
Both Russia and the United States have said they see enormous economic opportunities if they can normalise relations after ties plunged to a post-Cold War low because of the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday that countries of the Global South should push Russia toward making peace in its war with Ukraine, including by helping bring Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
“I reaffirmed my readiness for any format of meeting with the head of Russia. However, we see that Moscow is once again trying to drag everything out even further,” Zelenskiy wrote on X after speaking with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“It is important that the Global South sends relevant signals and pushes Russia toward peace.”
The Pentagon has been quietly blocking Ukraine from using US-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (Atacms) to strike targets inside Russia, limiting Kyiv’s ability to employ these weapons in its defence against Moscow’s invasion, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing US officials.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
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