Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko has tasked the government with finding reserves of rare earth metals and other natural resources in the country. He mentioned this during the announcement of new government appointments, stating, “People say we have rare earth metals in our deposits. We should also explore other things: chemistry, oil, gas and so on. I have given the relevant minister a corresponding task.”
Lukashenko pointed out that the geological exploration in the country is underdeveloped and generally at a low level. The search for rare earth metals is not being adequately pursued by Belarus’s experts, he emphasized. The head of state added, “There aren’t many of those in the ground. Perhaps we don’t have less than others?”
According to Lukashenko, rare earth metals are the future and “we should dig and see what we have in the ground.”
In recent weeks, Kiev and Washington have been discussing an agreement on the joint development of rare earth metal deposits in Ukraine. The agreement was in its final stages and was set to be signed on February 28 during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington. However, due to a disagreement between Zelensky, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, the documents were not signed and Zelensky left Washington early.
A few days after the talks between US and Russian delegations in Riyadh, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he is ready to cooperate with foreign partners in the field of rare earth metals. He stressed that it’s not only about the US. Trump also confirmed that the United States is interested in Russia’s “vast reserves” of rare earth metals and other “very valuable resources.” The United States, in turn, has “things” that could be of interest to Russia, he noted.