Trump wants Ukraine’s rare metals. Putin just offered Russia’s.

Moscow would be open to allowing U.S. access to Russia’s rare minerals, President Vladimir Putin said Monday, an apparent counteroffer and pressure tactic as the Trump administration pushes Ukraine to sign over half its mineral wealth as repayment for U.S. support in the war.

In an interview broadcast on Russian state television Monday evening, Putin also endorsed President Donald Trump’s proposal for three-way nuclear arms control talks with China.

“We could come to an agreement with the United States — the United States would cut [defense spending] by 50 percent, and we would cut by 50 percent,” Putin told state broadcast personality Pavel Zarubin. “And the People’s Republic of China would then join in if it wanted. We think the proposal is good, and we are ready to discuss it.”