While the effort for a cease-fire with a subsequent peace settlement in the Ukraine war is certainly a high-priority and urgent objective, it is but one of the many lines of negotiation in the ongoing détente between the United States and Russia.

What was once a mere dream is materializing: the talks have branched out from the primary goals of re-establishing full, unimpeded diplomatic relations to the very promising area of economic co-operation.

Reports now arise that the US and Russia have started talks on 'joint rare earth metals and other projects in Russia'.

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's Special Envoy on International Economic and Investment Cooperation, further added today (31) that companies are expressing an interest in the projects.

Reuters reported:

"Amid efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, minerals cooperation has been floated by both Kiev and Moscow, though Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to back out of a proposed deal.

Putin in February suggested that the United States might be interested in exploring joint exploration for rare earth metals deposits in Russia, which has the world's fifth-largest reserves of the metals used in lasers and military equipment."

Dmitriev is an official of no small worth in Russia. In addition to being the 'special presidential envoy', he is also CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund. He has joined X and started posting with the most pro-détente content of all Russian officials.

Here's how he reacted to the cease-fire news back in mid-March: