Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is open to partnering with the United States on joint resource exploration and extraction, including rare earths, and has no objections to a potential U.S.–Ukraine minerals deal.
“We, by the way, would be ready to offer [joint projects with] our American partners,” Putin said to Russian state broadcaster VGTRK on Feb. 24, after chairing a meeting with his ministers and economic advisers on rare earth metals, which are critical in many modern technologies, both civilian and military.
“And when I say ‘partners,’ I mean not only administrative and governmental structures but also companies, if they showed interest in joint work.”
Putin also said that Moscow has no objections to a potential U.S.–Ukraine minerals deal.
The Russian leader offered the United States the opportunity for joint exploration of Russia’s own critical mineral deposits, as well as the renewed supply of aluminum. Putin said Russia could supply 2 million tons of aluminum annually to the United States if trade resumes, noting it once made up 15 percent of U.S. aluminum imports before 2023 tariffs.
Putin also suggested that Russia and the United States explore joint efforts in hydropower and aluminum production in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, a key industrial hub and home to Rusal, the country’s largest aluminum manufacturer.
With an estimated 3.8 million metric tons of rare earth metal reserves, Russia ranks as the world’s fifth-largest holder, trailing China, Brazil, India, and Australia, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Besides expressing willingness to cooperate with the United States on economic matters, Putin also said Moscow is open to an agreement with Washington on scaling back defense budgets, with Putin mentioning a mutual reduction of 50 percent. He also praised President Donald Trump’s efforts at pursuing a settlement to the war in Ukraine in the name of peace, with Putin saying that he shares this goal.
Trump said at a joint press conference in Washington on Feb. 24 alongside French President Emmanuel Macron that he believes Putin “wants to make a deal,” and that this would “very much benefit” Russia.
“There’s tremendous distrust on both sides,” Trump said of Russia and Ukraine, adding “that’s why it’s good that I’m coming in now.”
Macron said that Trump in the White House represents a fresh opportunity to reset relations with Russia and pursue peace.
“Now this is a chance, there is a a big change because there is a new U.S. administration,” Macron said. “So there is good reason for President Trump to reengage with President Putin.”
The French president praised Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine and suggested that European nations could assist in that process.
U.S. officials have said they expect to reach the U.S.-Ukraine economic deal this week, which would bring the two countries’ economies closer together.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said the proposed agreement falls short of the security guarantees he has been asking for. Ukrainian officials were expected to huddle on Monday to review details of the proposal.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over the weekend that, while the U.S.–Ukraine deal lacks a military component, it has an implicit economic security guarantee.
Bessent added that the deal features “an implicit guarantee that if the United States of America is heavily invested in the economic future [of Ukraine] … I call it an economic security guarantee.”
“The more assets that U.S. companies have on the ground, the bigger interest that the U.S. has in the future of [the] Ukrainian economy doing well, the more security it creates for the Ukrainian people, and the … higher the return for the U.S. taxpayer,” Bessent continued.
Meanwhile, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that he believes Ukraine should sign the proposed deal, arguing it would ensure Washington’s commitment to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“If there’s an American interest in Ukraine, it means that Ukraine is basically taking a path towards freedom and towards engagement with the West and away from control by Moscow,” Johnson said at a conference in Kyiv, which coincided with the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
A dozen or so leaders from Europe and Canada visited Ukraine’s capital Monday to mark the third anniversary of the country’s war with Russia in a show of support for Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said in a speech Monday that he hopes to sign the U.S.–Ukraine deal, adding that American support against Russia is “so important” to Ukrainians.
