British News Agency

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Special Representative of the Russian President for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, told Izvestia that Russia and the U.S. have started negotiations on rare earth metal projects.

“Rare earth metals are an important area of cooperation and, of course, we have started discussions about various rare earth metals and projects in Russia,” Dmitriev said.

Dmitriev also stated that some American companies have shown interest in the projects.

In February, U.S. President Donald Trump said he supported the idea of reaching an agreement with Russia on access to rare earth metals. He noted that Washington is interested in Russia’s “enormous reserves” of rare earths and other “highly valuable resources” the country possesses.