"Russia and the U.S. have not signed any documents on joint projects related to rare earth metals," Peskov said.
Some American companies have expressed interest in related projects in Russia, he added.
Previously, Kirill Dmitriev, the special representative for Russian President Vladimir Putin on investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, stated that discussions between the United States and Russia on joint rare earth metals projects had begun. Dmitriev was appointed to this role in February.
U.S.-Ukraine deal on critical mineral resources
On March 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was ready to sign a mineral resources agreement with the US "at any time and in any convenient format."
Early versions of the mining agreement proposed by the United States did not mention security guarantees, but suggested creating a $500 billion fund to "compensate" for US assistance, which was several times smaller in volume. Zelenskyy said that the final version of the agreement does not mention "500, 350, or 100 billion dollars of debt," which was falsely claimed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
After this framework agreement, Ukraine and the US were supposed to sign another agreement that would regulate the operations of the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund — a bilateral structure to be created by Ukraine and the United States, where Ukraine will contribute 50% of future income from new mining developments.
On March 11, the President’s Office announced that Ukraine and the US had agreed to finalize the comprehensive agreement on critical mineral resources "as soon as possible."
On March 27, President Zelenskyy stated that the terms of the mining agreement with the US were constantly changing.
On March 26, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent noted that the U.S. government had prepared a "full" version of the mineral resources agreement, which could be signed next week.
On March 27, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced that the U.S. side had handed Ukraine a new draft mineral resources agreement, which is set to be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada. Dated March 23, it allegedly covers U.S. access to all minerals throughout Ukraine, including both current and future developments.
On March 31, Trump claimed that Zelenskyy intended to reject the mining agreement, warning that this decision would lead to "big, big problems."