Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News When Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,
the US, the EU and other G7 allies responded with an attack of their own on Russia's economy.
The US and its allies in Europe and NATO countries have all come together and basically blocked the Russian financial system from getting any financing outside of Russia.
That meant sanctions, Russia, its companies and its wealthiest citizens,
the freezing of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of assets,
and strict restrictions on trade between Russia and Western nations.
But since taking office, President Trump has been signaling a warmer relationship with Russia.
Meanwhile,
yesterday's talks between the US And Ukraine in Saudi Arabia yielded a proposal for a 30 day truce.
Russia may agree to a truce eventually,
but Putin wants his own conditions met first, which could drag out negotiations now.
The world is watching to see whether the countries will be able to broker peace and so are investors.
A lot of analysts and a lot of investment houses are looking now to see whether the Russian market is soon going to be tradable again.
Bloomberg's Tony Halpin has been covering the Russia Ukraine conflict and its economic ramifications from Dubai.
After leaving Moscow at the start of the war,
he says the US Is about face on Russia has set off speculation in the financial world that Russia might soon be open for business and investors willing to take on the reputational and financial risks are getting ready to take advantage.
There's an increasing level of optimism among traders,
among clients of traders who are looking for Russian assets,
that perhaps those sanctions will be eased by the Trump administration,
maybe even removed entirely if there's a settlement to the war between Russia and Ukraine.