The Americans need rare earth metals. We have plenty of them, says the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitrij Peskov.
The statement is a repetition of President Vladimir Putin's statement on Monday, when he offered the USA to buy Russian rare earth metals – both from Russian soil and the country's "new territories", i.e. Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.
I want to emphasize that we undoubtedly have significantly greater resources of this kind than Ukraine has, said Putin.
Minerals and rare earth metals are used in large parts of the technology based on so-called clean energy, such as batteries for electric cars.
USA's President Donald Trump is trying to get Ukraine to sign an agreement that gives the USA exclusive rights to half of Ukraine's resources, including titanium and lithium. As the negotiations between the USA and Ukraine are said to be nearing a final stage, Russia has raised the tone about its own resources.