The initiatives of US President Donald Trump to end the war not because of Russia's defeat on the battlefield, but because of dialogue, give Russia a great opportunity to get out of the strategic impasse. Despite the demonstration of confidence in its forces, Moscow is well aware that the continuation of military actions against Ukraine leads to the weakening of Russia's strategic positions, writes Cyprus-daily.news. Even the most ardent supporters of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin state the threat of a rapid decline in Russia's economic and human potential, and ordinary Russians, against the background of a decrease in the standard of living, discuss the stated goals of the special military operation in the kitchens as unattainable and unreasonable whims. Instead, the prospect of lifting sanctions, restoring trade, economic and investment cooperation finds a positive response among the Russian establishment, primarily in the entourage of V. Putin.
Details of the meeting of the Russian-American delegation in Saudi Arabia on February 18 of this year have leaked into the public domain. Among the topics that were probably discussed were joint energy projects in the Arctic and the development of rare earth deposits on the territory of Russia. Back on March 2, the Financial Times reported on negotiations between Russia and the United States on the use of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline for gas supplies to Europe, Cyprus-daily.news recalls. According to journalists, the special envoy of the US President Richard Grenell and the former head of Nord Stream 2 AG Matthias Warning are participating in the negotiations, which took place in Switzerland. The latter denies the fact of negotiations, but whether to believe the former employee of the German secret police «Stasi» when it comes to such sensitive topics, let everyone decide for themselves.
The idea of resuming Russian gas supplies to Europe may find its supporters not only in the USA and Russia, but also in the EU. The Union still has no plan for the practical implementation of the declared goal - to abandon Russian gas by 2027, whose share in the European market still remains at the level of 15-20%. If American business gains control of the pipeline and possibly a stake in Russian gas production, as the Financial Times notes, Washington can argue that American mediation will ensure Russia's reliability as a partner.
The uncertainty created by Trump regarding the size of American financial and military participation in ensuring European security gives the US president a good opportunity to encourage European countries, primarily Germany, to return to the idea of buying gas from the offshore gas pipeline "Nord Stream - 2". However, after damage from explosions on September 26, 2022, only one pipeline strand with a capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters per year remains in operation. However, such a volume is quite enough to satisfy the demand for Russian gas in Europe and, in fact, finally close the prospects for the resumption of transit through Ukraine not only of Russian, but also of Caspian gas.
Putin's appeasement through economic cooperation looks like a case where the road to hell is paved with good intentions. After all, in exchange for its U-turn from Beijing in conditions where tensions between the US and China threaten military clashes around Taiwan, Russia may demand the surrender of Ukraine. The fulfillment of its demands will allow the Kremlin to receive both political and economic dividends in Europe. At the same time, Moscow will get rid of the humiliating need for economic support from the People's Republic of China with the rights of a poor relative.
Such consequences of Russian-American rapprochement should worry China. Despite the statement of the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Guo Jiakun with a positive assessment of any efforts to achieve peace, in Beijing it is obvious that the return of Russia to cooperation with the United States is perceived at least as ingratitude, at most as betrayal. And taking into account the presence among the Russian elites of supporters of the anti-Western course, who have long invested their funds in China, the maturation of the judicial coup and its implementation, taking into account the mistakes of the head of the PMC "Wagner" E. Prigozhin, no longer seems like a fantastic idea.