Putin Indicates Russia Will Not Interfere with US-Ukraine Minerals Deal

February 24, 2025 TruthUSA

The Russian president has offered Washington a separate deal on rare earths.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow has no objections to a potential U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal. He also mentioned that his country is open to partnering with the United States in the joint exploration and extraction of resources, including rare earths.

Putin made these comments to Russian state broadcaster VGTRK on Feb. 24, as reported by the Russian state-owned news agency Tass, after chairing a meeting with his ministers and economic advisers on rare earth metals, which are crucial in many modern technologies, both civilian and military.

Regarding the proposed U.S.-Ukraine economic partnership, Putin said, “This does not concern us. I am not weighing up this issue in any way,” which involves Ukraine allocating revenues from its natural resources to a reconstruction fund, with Washington having certain economic and governance rights over these assets.

The Russian leader then offered the United States the opportunity for joint exploration of Russia’s own critical mineral deposits, as well as a renewed supply of aluminum. Putin mentioned that Russia could supply 2 million tons of aluminum annually to the United States if trade resumes, noting that it once made up 15 percent of U.S. aluminum imports before 2023 tariffs.

Putin also proposed that Russia and the United States explore joint efforts in hydropower and aluminum production in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, a key industrial hub and home to Rusal, the country’s largest aluminum manufacturer.

Speaking of rare earths, Putin highlighted that “we undoubtedly have, I want to emphasize, significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine,” adding that Russia is doing little to extract these resources and offering U.S. partners joint work in the rare earth metals industry.

With an estimated 3.8 million metric tons of rare earth metal reserves, Russia ranks as the world’s fifth-largest holder, trailing China, Brazil, India, and Australia, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Aside from expressing willingness to cooperate with the United States on economic matters, Putin also mentioned that Moscow is open to an agreement with Washington on scaling back defense budgets, with Putin proposing a mutual reduction of 50 percent. He also commended President Donald Trump’s efforts at pursuing a settlement to the war in Ukraine in the interest of peace, stating that he shares this goal.

Trump stated at a joint press conference in Washington on Feb. 24 alongside French President Emmanuel Macron that he believes Putin “wants to make a deal” and that this would “very much benefit” Russia.

“There’s tremendous distrust on both sides,” Trump said of Russia and Ukraine, adding “that’s why it’s good that I’m coming in now.”

Macron stated that Trump in the White House offers a fresh opportunity to reset relations with Russia and pursue peace.

“Now this is a chance, there is a big change because there is a new U.S. administration,” Macron said. “So there is good reason for President Trump to reengage with President Putin.”

The French president lauded Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine and suggested that European nations could assist in that process.

U.S. officials anticipate reaching the U.S.-Ukraine economic deal this week, aiming to bring the two countries’ economies closer together.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously voiced that the proposed agreement falls short of the security guarantees he has been requesting. Ukrainian officials were expected to convene on Monday to review the proposal details.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned over the weekend that, while the U.S.-Ukraine deal lacks a military component, it includes an implicit economic security guarantee.

“So, the first part of this is a partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. that involves strategic minerals, energy, and state-owned enterprises where we set up a partnership and we are only looking forward,” Bessent told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Bessent added that the deal consists of “an implicit guarantee that if the United States of America is heavily invested in the economic future [of Ukraine] … I call it an economic security guarantee.”

“The more assets that U.S. companies have on the ground, the bigger interest that the U.S. has in the future of [the] Ukrainian economy doing well, the more security it creates for the Ukrainian people, and the … higher the return for the U.S. taxpayer,” Bessent continued.

Meanwhile, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated on Monday that he believes Ukraine should sign the proposed deal, asserting that it would ensure Washington’s commitment to safeguard Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“If there’s an American interest in Ukraine, it means that Ukraine is basically taking a path towards freedom and towards engagement with the West and away from control by Moscow,” Johnson remarked at a conference in Kyiv, coinciding with the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

A dozen or so leaders from Europe and Canada visited Ukraine’s capital Monday to mark the third anniversary of the country’s war with Russia, showing support for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy stated in a speech Monday that he hopes to sign the U.S.-Ukraine deal, emphasizing that American support against Russia is “so important” to Ukrainians.

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