On February 15, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov met with the leadership and members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. During the meeting, Lavrov explained his assessment of the current development trends in the international situation and the prospects for Sino-Russian relations, taking into account the willingness of the Trump administration to promote the resolution of the Ukraine conflict.

Both sides had a productive exchange of views on a series of hot topics, focusing on the constructive role that the business community can play in promoting the recovery of Sino-Russian trade and investment relations.

Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia met with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce on December 15, 2025. The core message was to signal Russia's willingness to cooperate with the new U.S. government and to hope that the business community would help normalize bilateral relations. Although this meeting took place at the level of civil society, it was presided over by the Russian Foreign Minister himself, indicating clear official and political intentions.

Clearly using commerce as an entry point

Emphasizing the "constructive role" of the business community: The meeting focused on the key role that the business community can play in restoring trade and investment relations between the two countries. This shows that Russia hopes to thaw political relations by restoring commercial exchanges and creating economic interests, and may also hope that the U.S. business community will exert lobbying pressure on its government.

Removing sanctions against Russia is an implicit prerequisite. The fundamental prerequisite for restoring trade and investment relations is to lift or significantly ease economic sanctions against Russia. Therefore, discussing commercial cooperation essentially touches on the most critical issue of sanctions.

This meeting was a carefully designed diplomatic test by Russia, aiming to use economic cooperation as an incentive and the main topic of ending the Ukraine conflict, to seek a "reboot" of relations with the United States.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851625304836096/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.