Russia is in no way “concerned” with the agreement between the USA and Ukraine on rare-earth metals, while Moscow is ready to cooperate with foreign partners in the development of rare-earth resources on historical territories, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin.
“It does not concern us. I do not assess [the possible agreement – ed.] in any way. I do not even want to think about this topic,” Putin said in an interview.
The Russian president said that before an agreement between Ukraine and the USA, Ukraine and the USA should first “assess these resources, how realistic it is, how many of these resources there are”.
Vladimir Putin reminded that there are reserves of rare earth metals in new regions of Russia and said that he was ready to cooperate with foreign partners in this area.
“We are ready to attract foreign partners also to the so-called new, our historical territories that have returned to the Russian Federation. There are certain reserves [of rare-earth resources – ed.] there too. We are ready to work with our partners, including US partners,” the president said.
Earlier, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration and justice minister, Olha Stefanyshyna, said that the USA and Ukraine were at the final stage of negotiations on an agreement to exchange rare-earth metals for military aid.
