With Volodymyr Zelenskyy balking at Donald Trump’s bid for Ukraine’s critical rare earth minerals, the Kremlin is attempting to persuade the United States president that Russia can offer a better deal.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin told state media Monday evening, “We are ready to work with our partners, including the Americans” to access mineral reserves — including in Russian-occupied Ukraine. He also suggested Russia could resume selling aluminum to the U.S., saying Moscow was ready to supply “about 2 million tons to the American market.”
The offer came amid an attempt by the Trump administration to gain preferential access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukraine’s critical minerals as payback for previously supplied aid, while offering no clear security guarantees or prospects of future funds in return.
Speaking in a televised interview after convening a meeting on development of the rare earth metals industry Monday, Putin said Ukraine’s potential critical minerals deal with the U.S. “does not concern us” — but claimed Moscow had more to offer Trump than Kyiv did.
