How big is the prize of reopening Russia? Vladimir Putin is making the Trump administration a $12trn offer—but such promises have long been a tactic of the Russian president. He is offering access to a market that is not in the pink of health. Russia’s economy has coped surprisingly well with war and sanctions. But, warns one expert in a guest essay, “It has entered what mountaineers call the death zone.” Read why.

Elsewhere, two trials suggest that a synthetic form of psilocybin—the active compound in magic mushrooms—can rapidly relieve symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression. If regulators approve it, it could be the first psychedelic drug to become a fully licensed medicine.