Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his cabinet to develop a national roadmap for rare-earth mineral extraction by December 1, as global competition for critical raw materials intensifies and countries seek to reduce dependence on China’s near-monopoly in the sector.
The directive, published Tuesday on the Kremlin’s website, also calls for the expansion of transport and logistics infrastructure at Russia’s borders with China and North Korea, including multimodal hubs and new railway links.
Rare-earth elements—vital for smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced weapons systems—have become a major point of strategic rivalry between the world’s largest economies.
In April, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an agreement granting the United States preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources and supporting U.S. investment in reconstruction projects. Moscow has since said it is also open to cooperation with the U.S. on rare-earth projects, though political and diplomatic tensions stemming from Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine have stalled progress.
Earlier this year, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment envoy, said U.S. firms had shown interest in Russian rare-earth ventures, but talks remain at an exploratory stage.
Meanwhile, China, which dominates the global rare-earth supply chain, has tightened export controls in retaliation against Western tariffs, pushing Washington and its allies to accelerate domestic and alternative sources of supply.
Putin’s order stems from discussions at the Far Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September, where he emphasized the strategic importance of developing Russia’s Far East as a resource and transport hub connecting Asia and Europe.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Russia’s known rare-earth reserves total about 3.8 million tonnes, though Moscow claims much higher figures. The Russian Natural Resources Ministry estimates 28.7 million tonnes of reserves across 15 different rare-earth metals as of January 2023. Even by Moscow’s count, however, Russia’s share remains relatively small compared to China’s dominant position.
Putin also ordered the construction of new multimodal transport and logistics centers along the country’s borders with China and North Korea, including upgrades to two existing railway bridges and the completion of a new bridge to North Korea by 2026.
Both China and North Korea have deepened economic cooperation with Russia amid Western sanctions, making regional integration and resource development key components of Moscow’s broader pivot to Asia strategy.
