The Kremlin said it sees potential for cooperation with the United States in developing Russia's large reserves of strategically important rare and rare earth minerals.

In a televised interview, President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia is a world leader in terms of reserves and "must do more" with them, AFP reported.

He said Russia was ready to work with "foreign partners, including Americans" to develop such reserves in Russia and its "new territories," referring to the areas it has occupied in Ukraine through its military offensive.

"There are quite broad prospects here," Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov insisted, adding, "The Americans need rare earth minerals. We have a lot of them."

Critical minerals, including rare earths, are becoming increasingly important given their use in clean energy technologies such as batteries for electric cars.

US President Donald Trump is pushing Ukraine to sign an agreement giving it privileged access to its reserves of valuable minerals such as titanium and lithium.

But Russia has also seized on the issue, with Putin meeting his cabinet on 24 February to discuss developments in the sector.

Russia has occupied territories in eastern and southern Ukraine with large deposits of lithium and other minerals.

The Kremlin's press secretary said Russia was ready for such a deal "when the moment of political will to do so comes".

But Peskov warned that Russia still needs time to restore relations with the United States, which has imposed heavy sanctions on its economy over the conflict in Ukraine.

"In order to say that we trust the Americans, we will have to go a serious way ... we will have to take many very small steps towards each other, which will make it easier to restore trust," he said.

"A lot of things have been damaged. It cannot be restored overnight," Peskov concluded. | BGNES