Western investors are at a “low start” on returning to Russia – FT
17 March 16:59
Amid warming relations between the United States and Russia, Western investors are looking more closely at Russia in the hope of finding a quick investment opportunity. This is stated in the article of the Financial Times, according to Komersant ukrainskyi.
According to the publication, hedge funds and brokers are actively exploring opportunities to invest in Russian assets. They suggest that potential improvement in relations between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could attract capital to the Russian economy.
According to the publication, some investors are showing interest in Russian bonds and the ruble, as they expect the Trump administration to ease sanctions against Moscow. In their view, reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Russian-Ukrainian war would be a step toward such sanctions relief.
Despite the current sanctions, some Western financial institutions are trying to find ways to work with Russian bonds. These securities almost completely lost their value after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but are now gradually regaining their market position.
Roger Mark, an analyst at Ninety One Investment Company, confirms this trend:
“There is definitely some excitement, mainly among hedge funds.”
However, he also emphasizes that trading in Russian currency remains extremely restricted and most Russian bonds are not available to foreign investors due to international sanctions and domestic restrictions imposed by Russia.
The Financial Times also reports a significant drop in international trade in the ruble. Currently, it is only about $50 million a week, while before the outbreak of the full-scale war, these figures reached billions of dollars.
Some traders resort to using the Kazakhstani tenge as a proxy currency for ruble transactions. This strategy allows to increase trading volumes to 100-200 million dollars per week.
It is worth noting that since the beginning of 2025, the Russian ruble has strengthened by almost a third against the US dollar. This growth is attributed to expectations of a possible end to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
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Negotiations between the US and Russia
Market players are actively responding to signals coming from Moscow and Washington about possible negotiations to end hostilities in Ukraine. on February 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Assistant Prime Minister Yuri Ushakov met in Saudi Arabia with an American delegation, represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Volz, and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
After the talks, the US State Department reported that the delegations agreed to “eliminate irritants” in bilateral relations and continue to work on preparing talks on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The two sides also agreed to appoint high-level groups for further talks on Ukraine.
Jackie Heinrich, a Fox News correspondent at the White House, reported that the United States and Russia discussed a three-stage peace plan for Ukraine, which consists of the following stages
- A ceasefire.
- Holding elections in Ukraine.
- Conclusion of a peace agreement.
on February 27, negotiations between the Americans and Russians continued in Istanbul. According to the Russian side, they discussed the normalization of diplomatic relations. The Kremlin also allegedly demanded the return of 6 properties that had been seized from Russians in the United States in 2016-2018, and also proposed to resume air travel.
on March 13, Putin met in Moscow with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. The parties have not yet made any statements about the results of this meeting, except for the words of Trump’s national security adviser Mike Volz that there are grounds for cautious optimism.
Trump’s proposals to Putin
According to inaccurate information from former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul(he used the word “allegedly”), Trump offered Putin (McFaul’s wording is retained)
- ukrainian territory;
- ukraine’s non-membership in NATO;
- no American soldiers in Ukraine;
- withdrawal of American soldiers from Europe, including from frontline countries;
- easing of sanctions.
Putin, according to McFaul, has not offered anything yet.
