Russia is making a direct play for Ukraine’s rare minerals, pushing back as the United States tries to strike a deal that would give it access to nearly half of Ukraine’s mineral wealth. President Vladimir Putin told RT reporters on Monday that Russia has more rare earth minerals than Ukraine and is open to working with American companies, but only on Russia’s terms.
This comes a week after US President Donald Trump confirmed he is in serious discussions with Russia to end the war in Ukraine while also trying to secure economic deals with Moscow, specifically regarding rare earth metals.
At the same time, Ukraine’s government is close to signing an agreement that would grant the US access to its mineral reserves in exchange for continued military and political support. But there’s a major problem—40% of those minerals are under Russian control.
Speaking to state media correspondent Pavel Zarubin, Putin said, “Russia is one of the leading countries when it comes to rare metal reserves.”
To drive home Russia’s mineral dominance, Putin compared his country’s reserves to Ukraine’s, saying, “We certainly have much more of such resources than Ukraine.” He also shared that Russia is willing to sell 2 million tons of aluminum to the US—but only if Washington lifts sanctions on Russian metals.
Ukraine nears deal with the US, but Russian-occupied territories block access
Meanwhile, Trump has been negotiating with Ukraine for access to rare minerals, demanding control over 50% of the country’s deposits in exchange for continued US military support.
“I’ve spoken to Vladimir, and my people are dealing with him constantly, and his people in particular, and they want to do something,” Trump said on Monday in a press briefing with French President Emmanuel Macron from the White House. “I mean, that’s what I do. I do deals. My whole life is deals.”
Inside Kyiv, talks between Ukraine’s leadership and the US have been ongoing for months. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna confirmed that negotiations are in their final stages, saying that the agreement covers minerals, oil, and gas.
But Stefanishyna also acknowledged that the minerals deal is “only part of the picture.” The Ukrainian Geological Survey describes Ukraine’s mineral wealth as one of the richest in the world, with vast deposits of titanium, zirconium, graphite, manganese, lithium, beryllium, nickel, and rare earth elements.
These resources are critical to the US, which is trying to reduce its dependence on China for materials essential to EV production, aerospace, and military technology.
Sources in Kyiv reportedly told Financial Times that there has been ongoing debate over whether the US would receive direct ownership of Ukraine’s minerals or simply a stake in a fund backed by mineral profits.
While Ukraine scrambles to finalize its agreement, Russia is inserting itself into the conversation. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy for investment, met with US officials in Saudi Arabia last week to discuss potential economic cooperation. He later told CNN that Russia is “open to US-Russia economic cooperation and believes such cooperation is key for a more resilient global economy.”
Putin, for his part, told RT that Trump’s approach to Russia and Ukraine has been strategic, not emotional. “His position is based not so much on emotions as on cold calculation, on a rational approach to the current situation,” said Putin.
Still, Trump has not made any firm commitments about Ukraine’s request for security guarantees, a sticking point that Zelensky’s administration continues to push for.
In a final exchange with reporters during the briefing, Trump was asked why he believed he could trust Putin in negotiations. His response was: “I think it’s to the very much benefit of Russia to make a deal and to go on with—go on with leading Russia in a very positive way. I really believe that he wants to make a deal. Maybe I’m wrong, but I believe he wants to make a deal. He never wanted this to happen anyway.”
Russia is not anti-US anymore
Since Russia decided to invade Ukraine three years ago, they’ve been pretty much nonstop bashing the US They’ve been throwing shade at the American leadership, the economy, and culture — basically everything that has to do with what they see as America’s global dominance.
Then came the whole mess of international sanctions, pushed by the US, and that only fired them up more. Putin and his crew were livid. They kept slamming these relentless sanctions that were targeting Russia’s economy, its elite, and just about anything that kept them rolling. But then, something interesting happens — enter President Trump, and suddenly Russia’s tone does a 180. Why? Because they got the sniff of a friendlier administration, plus talks were happening about ending the war in Ukraine. And, hey, it wasn’t just about peace — there was a chance for Russia to crawl its way back into the global game and fix that economic mess.
Fast forward to this week, and we see Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy openly at each other’s throats. Trump drops a bomb calling Zelenskyy a “dictator,” and then — bam — Putin decides to talk. He says that the negotiations in Saudi Arabia went well. He even says there was a “result” from the talks and that the mood was pretty “friendly.” Putin’s all like, “On the American side, we had totally different people this time, folks who were open-minded and weren’t holding grudges from the past.” You can almost hear the backhanded compliment there.
Putin also gave Trump props for staying calm, saying Trump showed “restraint” in the middle of all the European outrage — and they were pissed, by the way, because they weren’t invited to these talks. And here’s the kicker: Russia has always downplayed the impact of those Western sanctions. They love telling anyone who’ll listen that they’ve been able to ride out those sanctions by making deals with China and India. But let’s be real: getting the West to ease up on sanctions and maybe reopen those markets? That would be a serious win for Russia.
Liam Peach, an economist, thinks this could be huge for Russia. He says the US and Russia starting to “lay the groundwork” for peace in Ukraine could turn the entire situation around, after three years of hell. Peach thinks a peace deal might open up more Russian gas flowing to Europe, which could drop energy prices — but let’s not kid ourselves, the boost for Europe outside of Russia and Ukraine? Probably not huge.
David Roche, a strategist, has some pretty harsh words though. He says that the real winners here are Putin and China’s President Xi. He’s all like, “Look, these autocrats are showing how weak and decaying democracies are.” And he thinks that this whole ‘America pulling back from its old allies’ thing? It’s giving Russia and China a golden opportunity to step in and replace the US in terms of aid, investments, and political influence.
Roche also thinks that when the war stops, Russia is going to use that ceasefire to rebuild its military. He says that once the fighting ends, Russia’s losses in terms of people and gear are going to be made up fast, and that they’re basically producing new military equipment at a pace that could rival Germany’s armed forces. It’s almost like a reset button for Russia. The cracks in their war machine were starting to show, sure, but those cracks are going to heal as soon as the violence stops.
Now, let’s talk about Ukraine. They’re pissed. And not just a little. Ukraine and their European buddies are fuming that the US and Russia are rekindling their ties and making decisions without even letting them in on the conversation. Zelenskyy is losing his cool about being left out of talks in Saudi Arabia, and when he hears that Trump might be falling for Russian disinformation, that’s when he snaps. Trump, of course, doesn’t back down and calls Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” — even though a poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology says 57% of Ukrainians actually trust their president.
Oh, and just to rub salt in the wound, Ukraine hasn’t held elections since Zelenskyy won in 2019 because, you know, war and martial law make things a bit difficult. But hey, it’s a messy situation all around, right?
So yeah, things are about to get real interesting as all these players try to figure out what the hell’s going on.
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