The Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Photo: EPA / ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO
Russia offered the United States a deal last week that would grant Washington access to deposits of rare earth minerals and other valuable metals in Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
Citing two US intelligence officials and another source familiar with the proposal, NBC News said that the deal was floated on behalf of Vladimir Putin by Russian delegates during face-to-face talks with Trump administration representatives in Saudi Arabia on 17 February.
Among Russia’s proposals was a scenario that would give the US partial ownership of minerals in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, NBC News said. Russia illegally annexed both regions in 2022, though it has never controlled the entire territory of either.
“Trump is transactional, so Putin — understanding that — has come up with this countermove”, a former US diplomat told NBC News, adding that the Kremlin was prompted to move fast on the proposal after it emerged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had refused to sign the initial version of a similar deal presented to him by Washington.
On Monday, Vladimir Putin floated the idea on Russian state television, saying Moscow would be ready to work with “foreign partners”, including the US, to develop reserves of rare earth metals in what it calls Russia’s “new regions” in eastern Ukraine.
Following Putin’s remarks, Trump said during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron later that day that Russia had “a lot of things that we want” and expressed an interest in economic development deals between Washington and Moscow, which he said would be a “very good thing for world peace”.
On Tuesday, Trump said a deal granting US access to natural resources in Russian-occupied Ukraine “could take place”, though it remains unclear if he has spoken to Putin directly about such a deal.
Since Zelensky rejected the first iteration of a natural resources deal, Kyiv and Washington reached an agreement this week that was acceptable to both parties, and the Ukrainian president is expected to sign the deal at the White House on Friday.
The agreement will reportedly see the two countries establish a jointly owned fund into which Ukraine will contribute 50% of proceeds from the “future monetisation” of its state-owned mineral resources including oil and gas, but does not include US security guarantees for Ukraine that Trump has made clear Washington is not prepared to give.
