Welcome to The World in 10.
In an increasingly uncertain world, this is The Times' daily podcast dedicated to global security.
Today with me, Alex Dibble and Stuart Willey.
As Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump prepare for their summit in Alaska,
the American president has raised what he called the very powerful potential of...
economic incentives in ending the war in Ukraine.
Those incentives could include ending sanctions, investment in each other's countries,
and most worrying to Ukraine, the swapping of territories.
That would include the Donbass, which is rich in lithium, coal, and with gas reserves offshore.
With us to unpack it all is a long-time Russia specialist, David Salvo,
previously with the US State Department and who now heads the Alliance
for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund think tank.
David, amid all the talk of land swaps and trade-offs,
is there a sense Donald Trump sees Ukraine's resources as bargaining chips in this negotiation?
Well, I think the administration does look at the question of resources pretty closely.
I mean, obviously, this is an administration that's focused on economic benefit, economic gain.
So the areas that Russia currently occupies and the territory that it wants to annex further,
Those are economically rich areas.
I mean, these are areas of Ukraine that are rich in minerals, rare earth metals.
There's access to Black Sea ports.