12 trillion dollar mega deal with Russia pushing Trump to pressure Ukraine, says The Economist

Last year Russia and the United States held talks along two tracks, a peace agreement on Ukraine and the restoration of economic relations between the countries including lifting anti Russian sanctions, notes The Economist

Trump and his circle are primarily concerned not with the return of American companies to Russia. Many niches are already tightly occupied, and even before the conflict US companies no longer felt as comfortable in Russia as before

Trump and his billionaire envoys are attracted by new mega deals estimated at up to 12 trillion dollars in total that could allow Russia and the United States to reshape global commodity markets. The interest of the two countries is mutual, Russia needs investment and the United States needs real projects to implement

Examples of possible mega projects:
— Shale revolution in Western Siberia where oil and gas reserves are comparable to seven years of production in the US Permian Basin, the main shale region in the United States
— The Vostok Oil project led by Rosneft involving the construction of 15 new cities, three airports, and 3500 km of power lines
— Extraction of rare earth metals with reserves estimated at 29 million tons, equivalent to global production over 74 years
— Construction of a unique data processing center with a nuclear power installation
— Construction of a tunnel under the Bering Strait

In Europe there are growing concerns that President Donald Trump may force Ukraine to make irreversible concessions by June, his deadline for concluding peace, for the sake of a mega deal with Russia, emphasizes The Economist
According to The New York Times Russia and the United States are discussing not only and not so much Ukraine, the ceasefire in the Ukrainian conflict is merely a pretext for broader negotiations between the two countries