Reuters said the invitation came shortly after US President Donald Trump said that "major economic development deals with Russia" would soon take place.
Just two hours after Trump's announcement, President Putin chaired a meeting with ministers and economic advisers on rare earths on February 24.
"We are ready to propose cooperation projects with US partners, not only with government agencies but also with private companies, if they are interested," President Putin said on Russian state television.
Mr. Putin emphasized that Russia has significantly larger reserves of rare earths than Ukraine and is not concerned about a potential rare earth agreement between the US and Ukraine in this field.
According to the US Geological Survey, Russia has the fifth largest reserves of rare earths in the world, at about 3.8 million tons - behind China, Brazil, India and Australia. However, Russia's mining capacity is still limited, reaching only 2,500 tons of ore per year and lacking processing capacity.
Rare earth is an important component in the production of magnetes for electric vehicles, mobile phones, missile systems and many other electronic devices. Mr. Putin said Russia could expand rare earth exploitation cooperation to the areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by the country after three years of war.
Mr. Putin also suggested that Russia could supply up to 2 million tons of aluminum per year to the US market if Washington lifts trade restrictions. Before the US imposed high tariffs in 2023, Russia accounted for 15% of US aluminum imports.
"The supply of aluminum from Russia will not greatly affect pricing, but it will still have a negative impact on prices," Putin said.
He also proposed cooperation in developing hydropower and aluminum production in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia - where rusal, Russia's largest aluminum group, is headquartered. The total potential investment for this project is estimated at up to 15 billion USD.
Mr. Putin said that Russia and the US could expand cooperation to the energy sector, and revealed that some companies of the two countries have begun to communicate, although he did not provide details.
According to him, rare earths will be a priority industry in Russia's economic development and competitiveness strategy in the coming time.
Meanwhile, the US has set a condition to own 50% of Ukraine's rare earth resources in exchange for military aid. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has refused.
