Moscow, Feb 25: Russia on Monday said that it is ready to strike a deal with the United States on rare earth metals. Speaking with media in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary of the President of Russia, said that the country has many rare earth metals that the United States needs and any possible deal in future will further boost cooperation between both nations.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to work with "foreign partners, including Americans" on developing reserves of rare and rare earth metals, including in parts in Ukraine that are now controlled by Russia.

"Russia is one of the undisputed leaders in these rare earth metal reserves. We have them in the north, in Murmansk, and in the Caucasus, in Kabardino-Balkaria, and in the Far East, in the Irkutsk region, in Yakutia and Tyva [republics]," Putin said.

He further said the US-Ukraine agreement on rare earth metals and other resources does not concern Russia in any way. However, before concluding an agreement on rare earth metals, Putin said that US should first assess the resources. "Of course, it would be necessary to assess this resource, how real it is, how many of these resources are there, how much they cost, and so on," Russia's leading news agency TASS quoted Putin as saying.

Ukraine and the US are currently in renewed negotiations to sign an agreement on rare earth metals. Ukrainian Minister Olha Stefanishyna took to her social media on Monday, posting "Ukrainian and US teams are in the final stages of negotiations regarding the minerals agreement. The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalised. We are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature. We hope both US and UA leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come".

In early February, Trump and Zelensky decided to strike a deal on rare earth metals but could not reach an agreement as Kyiv rejected Washington's proposal to help in exchange for Washington's right to 50 per cent of Ukraine's rare-earth metals, arguing that there was no security guarantee in the agreement.

--IANS

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