What an anniversary! As the war raging in Ukraine entered its fourth year on Monday, negotiations to end the bloodshed gained accelerated momentum. The day began with a clash between the United States and Europe over the resolution marking the anniversary, with Washington proposing more neutral language—co-sponsored by Hungary and Israel, among others—, while the European Union backed Kyiv’s proposal condemning Russia. It continued with US President Donald Trump receiving his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, at the White House and ended with Russian President Vladimir Putin offering an economic deal to Trump and the US involving a massive amount of rare earth metals and minerals.
An Indispensible Offer?
Putin, speaking in an interview broadcast on Russian state television, stated that Russia is ready to offer cooperation ‘to our American partners’ if they show interest in working together, adding that his country leads in reserves of rare earth metals. He highlighted Russia’s vast reserves of aluminium, a metal used in industries such as aerospace and consumer electronics, suggesting that Moscow could resume supplying the material to the United States and collaborate with American businesses to further develop Russia’s supplies.
Further outlining his offer, Putin invited American companies to develop aluminium reserves in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, estimating the initiative could be worth $15 billion. Furthermore, the Russian president offered access to mineral deposits in the eastern part of Ukraine, occupied by Moscow. Referring to a similar deal in the making between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian rare earth metals and minerals, Putin expressed scepticism about the size of Ukraine’s reserves. ‘One should assess how much resources are really there, how real that is, and how much they cost,’ he explained.
Another Deal on the Table
Ukrainian rare earth metals and minerals have long been viewed as one of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aces to strengthen his country’s position in peace talks. The Ukrainian president’s so-called ‘victory plan’, presented in autumn 2024, already included a proposal for the European Union and the US to jointly use Ukraine’s critical resources—such as lithium, gas, titanium, and others. Trump signalled interest in a deal regarding the proposal; however, he wants more than what Zelenskyy offers to cover the military support provided by Washington to Ukraine—some $500 billion, according to leaked draft documents of the deal.
Zelenskyy initially swept the deal off the table, leading to an intense war of words between him and Trump, with the latter calling Zelenskyy a ‘dictator without elections’ and warning him to accept the deal or risk soon having no country to talk about in the first place. Zelenskyy then accused the US leader of spreading Russian disinformation while stating that Kyiv refuses to pay back any of the support it has received, calling it grants and aid. However on Monday, Ukrainian officials stated that Washington and Kyiv are very close to an agreement, finalizing the details.
After meeting Emmanuel Macron at the White House, Trump seemed to confirm this information in a post on Truth Social, emphasizing its importance for both the US and Ukraine. However, he also referred to Putin’s proposal—which had not yet been made public—stating that he is in serious talks with the Russian President about ending the war and a major ‘economic development transaction’ between Washington and Moscow.
By offering Russia’s vast reserves of rare earth metals and minerals, Putin took Zelenskyy’s ace out of his hands—or at least forced him to act immediately regarding a similar deal with the US. Trump approaches international relations and geopolitics as a realist and a transactional leader. This means he will ultimately decide not from a moralistic point of view, as the EU (disastrously) does with issues, but rather based on pragmatic considerations: which offer best serves US interests. While key details about both the Ukrainian and Russian deals are still unknown, the situation will become much clearer in the coming days.
A quick reminder: Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Saturday that the president is confident that an agreement to end the war could be reached this week. Notably, according to Trump, Putin has agreed to the deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine once a peace agreement is signed—a significant shift in Russia’s earlier attitude and demands regarding a potential ceasefire deal.
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