Putin proposes US investment in rare earth metals in Russia and occupied Ukraine

Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia is ready to work with “foreign partners, including Americans” to develop reserves of rare earth metals in Russia and occupied Ukraine, just as officials in Kyiv signalled that Ukraine was close to striking a similar deal with the US.

In an interview broadcast on state television on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin said that Russia had “significantly” larger reserves of rare earth metals than Ukraine and would be “happy to work with any foreign partners” to develop them.

He also suggested that Russia would be ready to work with foreign investors, including the US, to develop the resources in its “new regions” — the name the Kremlin uses to describe the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, which it illegally annexed in 2022.

The proposal on rare earth metals — a set of 17 elements crucial to the production of electronics — could form part of broader economic cooperation between Russia and the US, Putin said, with companies from both countries in discussions with each other on “major economic projects” following preliminary talks between Moscow and Washington on ending the war in Ukraine.

Putin’s remarks came shortly after he chaired a meeting with top ministers on boosting Russia’s production of rare earth metals, which he highlighted as a “crucial” resource for ensuring the country’s global competitiveness and long-term economic growth.

Kyiv has been engaged in its own talks with Washington on a similar deal on Ukraine’s natural resources for several weeks, with Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna writing on X on Monday that negotiations had been “very constructive” and were now in the “final stages”.

Since US President Donald Trump’s return to office for a second term in January, Kyiv has faced mounting pressure to sign a deal that would grant Washington indefinite access to its mineral, oil and gas reserves as a way of repaying US support since the war began three years ago.

Under the terms reportedly being discussed, Washington would gain preferential access to key resources for export and near-total control over much of Ukraine’s raw materials sector, while providing Kyiv no security guarantees in return.