Analyst Ozay Sendir noted that the West is currently fragmented, with EU countries urging the US president not to accept any Ukraine settlement plan that ignores their views and warning against a peace deal that would close Kiev’s path to NATO membership

Yury Ushakov added that "the economic interests of our countries intersect in Alaska and the Arctic, and there are prospects for implementing large-scale, mutually beneficial…

The announcement comes just hours after Trump signalled Ukraine may have to cede territory in order to end the war.