”They have valuable things.” Trump is interested in Russiaʼs rare earth reserves

The US President Donald Trump said he would be open to economic partnership with Russia, despite the fact that his top priority is ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump said this during a meeting with French leader Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office, CNN reports.

Earlier, the American leader wrote on the social network Truth Social that he was "having serious discussions" with Putin not only about establishing peace in Ukraine, but also about joint projects in the economic sphere.

After meeting with the French president, journalists asked Donald Trump questions about these statements.

"They have huge reserves of rare earth metals. Itʼs the largest country in terms of area. They have very valuable things that we could use, and we have things that they could use. It would be very good if we could do that. Very good for lasting peace around the world," the US president said.

According to Russian propaganda media, amid his statements, Kremlin leader Putin held a meeting on the development of the rare earth metals industry. TASS writes that Putin allegedly declared his readiness to cooperate with the United States in this direction.

"We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, our historical territories that have returned to the Russian Federation. There are also certain reserves there. We are ready to work with partners, in particular with the Americans, there as well," the media quoted him as saying.

Putin reportedly added that Russia is ready to supply Washington with two million tons of aluminum.

• The US President is not opposed to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. In his opinion, Putin would also accept their presence.
• On February 18, Russia and the United States held their first talks in Saudi Arabia. No specific date was agreed upon for the meeting between Putin and Trump. Trump said it could happen "very soon," and the Kremlin did not rule out the possibility that it could happen by the end of February.

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