In a surprising development Russia President Vladimir Putin has said that he is open to offering the US access to rare earth minerals, including in the annexed regions of Ukraine that are now under Russian control.
The two leaders and their representatives have been in intensive talks over the past month looking to sort out deals in a number of global issues. The Ukraine conundrum remains right at the top of the list for both nations.
US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly pushing for Ukraine to give up some of its minerals in exchange for support, in a deal which is currently being finalised, according to a Ukrainian minister. Trump has maintained that Ukraine needs to offer the rare earth minerals to the US for Trump to still remain interested in the affairs of the war torn nation.
On the other hand in a state TV interview on Monday, Putin said he was ready to “offer” resources to American partners in joint projects, including mining in Russia’s “new territories” – a reference to parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia has annexed since 2022.
The proposal could also see the two countries collaborating on aluminium extraction and supply to the US to stabilise prices, he added.
In the interview, Putin also asserted that he remained ready to work with “foreign partners” including companies on mining minerals, whether it is in Russian territory or on the annexed Ukrainian land.
Putin said a potential US-Ukraine deal on rare minerals was not a concern and that Russia “undoubtedly have, I want to emphasise, significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine”.
“As for the new territories, it’s the same. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation,” he added.
He also suggested that Russia and the US could collaborate on aluminium production in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, where one Russian aluminium maker, Rusal, has its largest smelters.
The televised comments followed a cabinet meeting on Russia’s natural resources.
Earlier Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists the proposal opened up “quite broad prospects”, adding that the US needed rare earth minerals and Russia had “a lot of them”.
Offering the US access to minerals is an eye-catching move by Putin, given how much pride the Kremlin has taken in keeping Russia’s natural wealth in Russian hands. In 2023 Putin accused the West, particularly the US, of trying to “dismember” Russia to gain access to its natural resources.
Putin’s intervention comes as Ukraine has been facing growing pressure from the Trump administration to sign a deal for access to its mineral deposits.
Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world’s critical raw materials are in Ukraine. However, some of the mineral deposits have been seized by Russia in the three years since its invasion of Ukraine.
Trump said earlier this month that the US military and economic aid to Ukraine amounted to about $500bn, and he wants the US to have access to Ukrainian minerals of that value.
Zelenzky menawhile is expected to have a meeting with Trump this week to sort out the details of the mineral deal. The Ukrainian President also wants security asssurances from Washington, something Trump is not too inclined over. Trump has also indicated that he would prefer the European nations to manage Ukraine’s security concerns.
While Zelensky gets ready for his meeting with Trump, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Olga Stefanishyna, has calimed that negotiations on a mineral deal “have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalised”. It is expected that the Ukraine Presidmet will be finalizing the deal when he meets Trump on Friday.
Apart from the US, Zelensky has also offered the minerals to his european allies, with the UK and France especially interested in negotiating some agreement. Both nations have also been pondering over sending troops to Ukraine.
The UK has recently increased its defence spending as part of Trump’s demands that the NATO nations provide their own funds for the alliance. The economic conditions of European countries are currently strained, investment in the long term future of Ukraine as well as it’s security apparatus is now fast threatening to become an overreach for the European nations. Trump understands these constraints of Europe and for him the Russia US partnership can be an extremely lucrative deal that can give great dividends to both sides.
