Russia has proposed to the Trump administration a possible agreement under which the United States would obtain some property of rare earth minerals and other valuable metals in parts of Ukraine controlled by the Russian army, according to two US officials familiar with intelligence on the matter and another Informed person on the proposal.
The United States Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, previously presented to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a similar agreement, that Zelenskyy initially rejected, frustrating President Donald Trump.
The main assistants to Russian President Vladimir Putin floated Russia’s idea with Trump administration officials last week at a meeting in Saudi Arabia, US officials said and the person informed about the proposal.
The options that Russia had prepared specifically to discuss with US officials included scenarios that could give the Trump administration access to minerals in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, which Russia declared that it had annexed in 2022, the two US officials said.
The Trump administration has not committed to a United States Russian agreement in rare land minerals, but has not ruled out, US officials said and the informed person on the proposal.
“Trump is transactional, so Putin, understanding that, has created this against Movado,” said a former American diplomat with experience in the region, adding that Russians could clearly see Trump’s interest in the natural resources of Ukraine and Zelenskyy hesitation.
Trump suggested an opening on Monday to an agreement with Russia.
“We are trying to make some economic development agreements. They have many things we want, ”Trump told reporters, referring to Russia. “You know, they have a massive rare land. It’s … very big. …
“If we could do that, I think it would be very good for world peace and lasting peace,” Trump added. “As we are doing with Ukraine, if we could make economic development in terms of Russia and get things we want, something like this would be possible.”
On Tuesday, Trump said an agreement with Russia for minerals in Ukrainian lands that now controls “could take place”, but did not say if he has spoken with Putin about the possibility.
Putin said in an interview with Russian state television on Monday that he is open to offer the United States access to rare minerals in Russian territory in Ukraine, as well as in Russia.
Responding to US negotiations with Ukraine on a possible agreement to share the income of the country’s mineral resources, Putin said that such agreement would not be a reason for concern and that Russia had “significantly more resources of this type than Ukraine.” He also said that his government and the United States could collaborate in the extraction and supply of aluminum.
When asked about which Russia proposes an agreement with the United States on rare earth minerals and other metals, including those of the Ukrainian territory that Moscow has seized by invading Ukraine, a spokesman for the National Security Council pointed out Trump’s comments Monday.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a comment request.
Zelenskyy had first suggested a possible agreement with “strategic partners” to develop and ensure the country’s natural resources jointly as part of a peace plan proposed last year.
The meeting in Saudi Arabia received the assistance of Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Mike Waltz National Security Advisor; the envuso of the Middle East of the Trump administration, Steve Witkoff; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; and near Putin advisor Yuri Ushakov.
Russia proposed a new economic association to US officials who would involve a territory that Moscow seized its 2022 Ukraine invasion and that would coincide with the end of the war, US officials said and the person informed about the proposal.
He would effectively ensure that Russia retains stripes of Ukrainian territory that occupies and hopes to maintain as part of a negotiated peace agreement. It is also designed to appeal to Trump’s search for a financial cut for the United States in a negotiated war. Trump has pressed for Ukraine to accept to give the United States $ 500 billion in their rare earth minerals, proposing that the two countries divide the ownership of minerals uniformly, NBC News reported.
Trump said this week that his administration is close to signing an agreement with Ukraine on his rare land minerals. He has also said that he hopes to meet with Zelenskyy soon.
The joint property of the United States of Mineral wealth of Ukraine could change the way Trump sees the interests of the United States in Ukraine and Socava the target of Moscow to dominate the country, and that can be a motivating factor for Russia, he said The former diplomat with experience in the region.
Many of the rare land minerals of Ukraine are found in controlled or threatened areas by the Russian army, and Russian oligarchs are already exploiting some of them, according to five US officials.
Accessing rare earth minerals in any Ukrainian territory could be complicated and expensive.
James Cowan, the Halo Trust CEO, a humanitarian mining organization that works in Ukraine, warned this month at a security conference that as much as 156,000 square kilometers of Ukraine is contaminated with terrestrial mines or other explosives.
“Any proposal to take advantage of Ukraine mineral wealth will need to incorporate a plan for the authorization of terrestrial mines to be remotely viable,” Cowan said, a retired British general, at that time.
