Kremlin talks up mineral trade opportunities with U.S.

Putin aims to develop Russia's mineral reserves, including rare earth elements, and rebuild trust with the U.S. through cooperation.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that it sees potential for cooperation with the United States on developing Russia's large reserves of strategically important rare and rare earth minerals.

President Vladimir Putin on Monday (February 24, 2025) evening in a televised interview said that Russia is a world leader in terms of reserves and "needs to do more" with them.

Also read | Ukraine says in ‘final stages’ of talks on mineral deal with U.S.

He said Russia is ready to work with "foreign partners including Americans" to develop such reserves in Russia and its "new territories", referring to areas it has occupied in Ukraine through its military offensive.

"Quite broad prospects are opening up here," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Tuesday, adding: "the Americans need rare earth minerals. We have a lot of them."

Critical minerals including rare earth elements are increasingly important given their use in clean energy technologies like batteries for electric cars.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for Ukraine to sign a deal giving it privileged access to its reserves of valuable minerals such as titanium and lithium.