Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed joint exploration of Russia’s rare earth metals deposits and the supply of aluminium to the US market as part of a potential economic agreement, Reuters reported on February 25.

The offer follows remarks by US President Donald Trump, who said that “major economic development transactions with Russia” were forthcoming as part of the Ukraine ceasefire talks that kicked off in Riyadh on February 18. Within hours of Trump’s statement, Putin convened a meeting with ministers and economic advisers to discuss rare earth metals.

“We, by the way, would be ready to offer (joint projects with) our American partners, and when I say ‘partners,’ I mean not only administrative and governmental structures but also companies, if they showed interest in joint work,” Putin said on state television after the meeting.

He added that Russia possessed significantly greater rare earth metal (REM) resources than Ukraine and dismissed the prospect of a US-Ukraine deal in this sector as a concern.

As bne IntelliNews reported, Ukraine has almost no deposits of REMs, but does have considerable mineral resources that could be developed. The Washington and Kyiv are currently locked in negotiation over a harsh minerals deal where Trump is demanding half the revenue from any project paid into a fund until $500bn is collected. Some have comparted the terms of the deal as equivalent to reparations on terms that are worse than the Versailles  treaty imposed on Germany at the end of WWI.

Russia holds the world’s fifth-largest reserves of rare earth metals, estimated at 3.8mn metric tons, according to US Geological Survey data, and at 10mn by other surveys.

China with 44mn tonnes is the world leader followed by Brazil, India and Australia all with larger reserves. Ukraine doesn’t rank globally on rare earth element deposits Putin suggested that potential exploration agreements could also extend to deposits in eastern Ukraine, which Russia has controlled since its military intervention began three years ago.

Putin also proposed that Russian companies could resume supplying up to 2mn tons of aluminium annually to the US market, should trade restrictions be lifted. Before Washington imposed tariffs in 2023, Russia accounted for approximately 15% of US aluminium imports.

The EU just banned Russian aluminium as part of the sixteenth  sanctions package that was introduced to mark the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

“This (Russian aluminium supplies) will not significantly affect price formation. However, in my opinion, it would still have a restraining influence on prices,” Putin said. He further suggested that Russia and the US could collaborate on hydropower and aluminium production in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, home to Russia’s largest aluminium producer, Rusal.

“What is most important, in my opinion, is that we could consider working together with American companies in this area,” Putin said, estimating potential investment in the project at $15bn.