The United States has had
internal discussions on using Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker
vessels to support the development of gas and LNG projects in
Alaska as one of the possible deals to aim for when President
Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin on Friday, three sources
familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Trump landed in Alaska on Friday for what he called a “high
stakes” summit with Russia’s Putin to discuss a ceasefire deal
for Ukraine and end the deadliest war in Europe since World War
Two.
Both the U.S. and Russian presidents, due to meet at a Cold
War-era air force base in Alaska’s largest city, are seeking
wins from their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to
the White House.
The icebreaker idea has been discussed among White House
officials as one of the potential deals to try to strike with
Russia at the Alaska summit, one of the sources said.
The ongoing talks between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine
have included discussions about business deals. The White House
is planning to continue this approach at the summit on Friday,
said the source, who like the others spoke on condition of
anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. Kremlin officials were not available for comment.
Russia operates the world’s only fleet of nuclear-powered
icebreakers, which play a central role in maintaining year-round
shipping access along the Northern Sea Route, a strategic path
for global energy and trade flows.
Trump’s administration is pushing to transport gas from
Alaska’s remote north to Asian clients.
Trump has pitched Alaska LNG, a proposed $44 billion project
to ship liquefied natural gas along a 800-mile pipeline from
Alaska, to Asian buyers as a way to reduce their dependence on
Russian LNG.
Another project, similarly aimed at Asian markets, is Qilak
LNG, which is targeting 4 million tons per annum of LNG.
Qilak did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
An industry source said that Alaska LNG had “no identified
needs for Russian icebreakers.”
Reuters was not immediately able to establish which, if any,
specific project would benefit if a deal was reached in the
Alaska talks.
The nuclear icebreakers could also facilitate the transport
of construction materials and equipment to remote areas in
Alaska, where infrastructure is limited and weather conditions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States has hadinternal discussions on using Russian nuclear-powered icebreakervessels to support the development of gas and LNG projects inAlaska as one of the possible deals to aim for when PresidentDonald Trump meets Vladimir Putin on Friday, three sourcesfamiliar with the matter told Reuters.Trump landed in Alaska on Friday for what he called a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n