- Moscow Signals Readiness for Joint Mining Projects with US
- Trump Pushes Ukraine for Mineral Deal as Kyiv Nears Agreement
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled his willingness to grant the United States access to Russia’s vast mineral resources, including those in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. His remarks come as the US and Ukraine finalize a separate deal that could see Kyiv exchange mineral rights for American support.
Speaking on Russian state broadcaster Rossiya 1 on Monday, Putin said Moscow was open to collaborating with “foreign partners,” including American companies, on joint mining projects in Russia’s “new territories.” He also floated the idea of US-Russia cooperation in aluminium extraction, suggesting that such a partnership could help stabilize global prices.
Putin’s comments appeared to counter US President Donald Trump’s ongoing push for Ukraine to grant American firms access to its mineral deposits. According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, negotiations on the US-Ukraine deal have been “very constructive,” with most key terms already settled.
Meanwhile, the European Union is pursuing a similar arrangement with Ukraine, with European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné calling it a “win-win” partnership.
Ukraine holds an estimated 5% of the world’s critical raw materials, but some of these deposits have fallen under Russian control since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Despite this, Putin dismissed concerns over the US-Ukraine deal, insisting that Russia possesses “significantly more” mineral resources than Ukraine.
“As for the new territories, we are ready to attract foreign partners to our historical lands that have returned to the Russian Federation,” he added.
The Kremlin has since doubled down on Putin’s proposal. On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia had “a lot” of rare earth minerals that the US needed, describing the potential for cooperation as offering “quite broad prospects.”
With resource politics now at the center of US-Russia-Ukraine relations, the coming weeks could determine whether Washington chooses to engage with Moscow’s offer—or double down on its strategic alignment with Kyiv.
