The US and Russia are seeing the Arctic as a possible zone for economic cooperation, including joint extraction of natural resources and development of trade routes, Bloomberg reports.
“The discussions include the development of natural resources and trade routes“, the publication writes, citing informed sources who clarify that the negotiations are confidential and still at an early stage.
According to the agency, cooperation in the energy sector is also considered one of the key priorities of the US. The negotiations on this issue are taking place against the backdrop of US leader Donald Trump's attempts to achieve a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. In this context, Bloomberg notes that both countries have signaled their readiness for economic cooperation.
One of the sources told the agency that Washington sees cooperation with Moscow in the Arctic as a possible way to weaken ties between Russia and China in the Arctic region. However, he added that achieving this will be difficult, as relations between Moscow and Beijing have “strengthened significantly” in recent years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in an interview with VGTRK TV presenter Pavel Zarubin said that Moscow is ready to offer the United States the opportunity to work together in the field of rare earth metals, including in new regions.
The head of state's press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that Russian-American economic cooperation projects will become possible after the conflict in Ukraine is resolved and that Moscow has its own plans for the development of strategic resources, but this opens up quite broad prospects for cooperation.
US President Donald Trump later said that he supports the idea of an agreement with Russia on access to rare earth elements.