Putin Offers Trump Deal on Rare Earths

Negotiations between the US and Russia, on Ukraine and elsewhere, seem to be increasingly moving towards business. The Kremlin has highlighted the "vast opportunities" for the extraction of rare earths from the rich Russian subsoil in collaboration with the United States, just as President Donald Trump insists on obtaining control over the production of these and other strategic materials in Ukraine. Meanwhile, a European plan for collaboration with Ukraine on "critical materials" has emerged, as presented by the European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy, Stephane Sejourne, who visited Kiev yesterday.

Between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, stressed that the first step must be "the solution of the Ukrainian crisis". After that, he added, the two countries will be able to dedicate themselves to "trade, economic and investment projects". Among the first sectors that can be taken into consideration is the extraction of rare earths, because "America needs them and we have them in abundance", Peskov added. Yesterday evening, in a TV interview, Putin had launched the idea of ​​attracting American investors, both public and private, precisely for the exploitation of rare earths, stating that Russia has reserves "significantly superior" to Ukraine, from the Murmansk region in the northwest, to the Caucasus in the south, up to the Far East.

The Kremlin says it will take time and patience to rebuild relations with the US after the clash of recent years, but in the meantime it has clearly shown that it appreciates Trump's moves for rapprochement. Starting with the resolution approved in the UN Security Council on an American proposal in which it hopes for lasting peace in Ukraine, but avoiding identifying Russia as the aggressor. "The United States is taking a much more balanced position, which really helps efforts to resolve the conflict," Peskov concluded. He then hoped that "perhaps, based on the results of contacts between Europeans and Americans," Europe too "will somehow gravitate towards greater balance." For now, Europe has shown that it does not want to be left out of the game on strategic materials, such as rare earths and other precious metals for industrial technology. "Twenty-one of the 30 critical materials that Europe needs can be supplied by Ukraine in a win-win partnership," Commissioner Sejourne said after his meetings in Kiev. "This is about cooperation with Ukraine, there is no competition with the United States," a Commission spokesperson was keen to stress.

To revive industrial cooperation with Washington, Putin also raised the idea of ​​American companies participating in the development of an aluminum production hub in the Asian region of Krasnoyarsk, reviving an old project from the Soviet era. "The cost at current prices would be $15 billion, we can think about it," the president explained. Meanwhile, Russian authorities are finalizing the rules for the possible return of Western companies that left the country after the start of the conflict, according to sources in the Ministry of Finance quoted by the business daily Vedomosti. However, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told the Ria Novosti agency that it will not be easy for Western car manufacturers in particular to return to the Russian market, where Chinese brands have established themselves in recent years.

For their part, American analysts and investors quoted by the New York Times believe it is unlikely that large US companies will want to return to Russia any time soon. Not only because they would be struggling with a war economy with interest rates at 21% and a shortage of labor, but also because of the unpredictability of the Kremlin's economic policy.