President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday said American companies could do lucrative business deals in Russia and even help mine rare earths in Russian-occupied Ukraine, further amplifying the Kremlin’s message to President Trump that there was money to be made from a better relationship with Moscow.
Mr. Putin, speaking in an interview with Russian state television that was released late Monday, said that Russia had an “order of magnitude” more of rare earth metals than Ukraine and that Moscow was “ready to work with our foreign partners, including the Americans,” in developing those deposits.
He said the invitation applied to Russian-occupied Ukraine, as well, and added that American companies could also “make good money” by helping to develop aluminum production in Siberia.
“There is something to think about here,” Mr. Putin said, referring to aluminum, “as well as about joint work on rare earth metals and in other areas, for example, energy.”
The interview showed Mr. Putin working hard to appeal to Mr. Trump’s interest in profits and deal-making. It came as Mr. Trump has swung American foreign policy in Mr. Putin’s favor at dizzying speed, as underscored by the United States siding with Russia in votes at the United Nations on Monday about the war in Ukraine.
Mr. Putin praised Mr. Trump’s recent comments about a potential deal in which the United States, Russia and China would halve their defense budgets.
“It seems to me that the idea is good: The United States would reduce by 50 percent, and we would reduce by 50 percent, and the People’s Republic of China would then join in if it wants,” Mr. Putin said. “We think that the proposal is good and are ready for discussions on this matter.”
But the interview also showed that Mr. Putin appears to be in far less of a hurry than Mr. Trump to end the war in Ukraine. Russia continues to slowly gain ground on the battlefield, while Ukraine struggles with a dearth of personnel and uncertainty about the future of American support.
Mr. Putin said there was little discussion about the war in his Feb. 12 call with Mr. Trump and last week’s meeting between American and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia — a cautionary note about the prospects for imminent peace compared to recent statements from Mr. Trump, who has said that the war could end within weeks.
“We touched on problems related to the Ukraine crisis, but it itself was not substantively discussed,” Mr. Putin said of the recent talks between the United States and Russia. “We only agreed that we would move toward this.”
Asked by the reporter for Russian state television whether Mr. Trump was playing into Russia’s hands, Mr. Putin said no and praised the American president for using “a rational approach to the current situation.”
“He is in a unique position,” Mr. Putin said. “He does not simply say what he thinks, but he says what he wants.”
Mr. Putin said Mr. Trump was right in attacking President Volodymyr Zelensky for the lack of elections in Ukraine during martial law — a stance that Mr. Putin has pushed for months, calling Mr. Zelensky an illegitimate president.
In a new talking point, Mr. Putin appeared to assert that Ukraine’s rightful president should be Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander for the first two years of the war who is now ambassador to London.
Mr. Putin said General Zaluzhny was twice as popular as Mr. Zelensky inside Ukraine, without providing the source for his figures. Polling does show Mr. Zelensky trailing General Zaluzhny in a hypothetical presidential election, but by much closer margins.
Mr. Putin said Mr. Zelensky would have “absolutely no chance of winning the elections” against General Zaluzhny. Mr. Putin referred to the general as “Mr. Zaluzhny,” a notable courtesy given that Mr. Putin almost never pronounces Mr. Zelensky’s name in public.
