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Economy | Asia-Pacific | US

US-Russia Summit could Pave Way for a De-Escalation of Sanctions

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US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold a summit in Helsinki on 16 July 2018. Citi analysts believe this could pave the way for a de-escalation of sanctions.

 

Russia is motivated to de-escalate the situation because the costs of further sanctions are too high to bear. Russia has the means to de-escalate by virtue of its position in the Middle East and relationships with key regional players, which provide substantial leverage to exact benefits in exchange for helping the US in its objectives.

 

Impact on Commodities

Energy: The US could potentially support Russia’s oil market share via a more hawkish stance on Iran, while Russia could potentially reduce external military presence in Syria via its influence on key players. Russia is now a pivotal player in the OPEC+ decision making process, and can both add incremental oil to the market itself as well as add pressure to other OPEC members to do the same.

 

Metals: Russia is a substantial metals producer, most notably of palladium, platinum, nickel and aluminum, accounting for 37%, 11%, 9%, and 6% of global supply, respectively. Recent sanctions have significantly disrupted the global aluminum supply chain, driving prices higher. Citi analysts believe that risk premiums in metals markets, particularly in aluminum could decline following a successful Trump-Putin summit.

 

 

Impact on Equities

The US use of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) sanctions against Russian entities has been a headwind for equities. While Citi analysts do not see the summit as likely to lead to an explicit agreement to work towards the removal of entities from the SDN list, the summit could increase that probability, potentially generating outperformance in equities. Citi analysts are overweight EM equities, and within EMEA, neutral Russian equities.

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