India has excellent relations with Russia and the US so it could propose specific plans to this end during the upcoming Quad meeting in order to further their group’s Critical Minerals Initiative.
The best friend to have is RUSSIA. Russia has vast resources of all kinds and has the the largest number of nuclear weapons. The world keeps getting SMARTER, Russia has all you need, the USA is more limited. The world is more & more looking towards Russia for direction & answers.
What an ironic inversion of Lenin's words about the capitalists selling us the rope with which to hang them. This is what the article propose Russia do: undermine its most critical backer in order to help the US and Japan build a stronger military. No amount of profits is worth this disaster.
Even raising the possibility, on the eve of Trump's imposture on China, is already a backstab.
Russia should instead reach down and find a pair, and do what China did: embargo critical minerals, including uranium, titanium and rare earths, to the US and its vassals.
While China's continued purchase of Russian resources and export of tech to it are important, China is playing its own game too as I explained in this very detailed thread beginning here:
I am not denying that China has its own priorities, not necessarily matching Russia's. But this does not invalidate anything that I said.
Provocatively undermining China's key moves in order to rescue the American MIC is a policy so ill-advised as to border on suicidal. So much loss of credibility for such a little greed, not to even mention the fact that the munitions built with these Russian minerals will be used (already are being used) to kill Russians---that is what they are needed for. Both the US and Japan are consistently unwavering in their strategic hostility towards Russia. Russia should embargo these materials not in China's interest, but its own.
There's no proactive undermining of China in this proposal since China "undermines" itself by continuing to sell processed rare earth minerals to the US for use in its the same military-industrial complex that's hellbent on containing China just like Russia sells its energy to the same European one hellbent on doing the same to Russia.
Both Russia and China are therefore already "undermining" themselves in this context vis-a-vis their respective resource trades with the West, Russia's being raw materials from its own soil and China's being processed ones largely from elsewhere. This is the objectively existing and easily verifiable nature of their strategic resource cooperation with the West at present.
Also, as for what you or others think that Russia "should" do, that's not always -- actually, it rarely is -- what Russia ultimately does. Under the current ruling arrangement, little is likely to change, if anything. In fact, a reversion of part of the status quo ante bellum seems to be what Russia wants as proven by its repeated demands from Putin on down for the West to remove all its sanctions.
Coincidentally, here's Lavrov just earlier today for RT India:
"As you may be aware, we never punish anyone and always fulfill our obligations to our partners in good faith regardless of whether we are dealing with friendly or not so friendly countries. Once we strike an agreement, Russia traditionally honours its commitments under any deal.
...
The Japanese have also addressed this issue. Their new foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, made it clear that Japan would continue to exert pressure on Russia and remain one with its Western partners, but doing without Russian oil is a challenge for them. If they are willing to buy from us... We have never turned the economy or existing agreements into political tools."
What I proposed is therefore fully in line with official Russian policy. You might dislike that policy, but it's what Russia is currently doing and likely will continue to do with even more gusto once the SMO ends if there's even partial sanctions relief as is expected.
And yes, even the unyielding Stalin supplied strategic resources to the Nazis until the very last moment. As a reminder, Operation Barbarossa only began once the last Russian train loaded with rare metals essential to the German arms industry had crossed the border in the early hours of June 21, 1941.”
This is critically important. China does have some natural resources, but in general, not much. China's current domination in the international rare earth market is due to three reasons: (1) China is willing to dig up its thin reserves in rare earth ores, although China does have the number one reserve in the world for a few materials. China has also mastered enough production technology. (2) China is "willing to pay" the environmental cost. Multiple cities and towns have suffered major industrial pollution due to rare earth. Even Xi had to address the pollution problem when he toured an industrial complex a few years ago during Trump's first term. (3) Other nations are content to import now and keep their own ores underground. Few other nations are willing to pay for the environmental cost of extracting rare earth.
China can play this card but not for long. (1) Competitive developers have sprung up in other nations with the financial backing of their respective governments. (2) If China stops export, it only forces the competitors to go online faster. The US, for example, has a known reserve completely dwarfing China. (3) China's own dwindling reserves will force a reduction in production. China only has a limited window to wield this weapon.
Careful, my friend. Andrew is in no way suggesting that Russia intends to double‑cross China by selling land to their common worst enemies through the most slimy eel of the East. This is a projection with numerous conditions. Judge for yourself: India COULD invite its Quad partners and ask them whether they COULD ask their respective governments to ask RUSSIA whether it COULD sell them rare earths. Three conditionals. The road is long and hazardous.
Exactly, the premise itself was inspired by none other than Putin, which a lot of people don't want to acknowledge because they strongly disagree with it yet can't bring themselves to constructively critique him even pseudonymously for some reason:
you don't know what provoked this reaction; what if shanghai gang promised china the russian far east in exchange for total subordination? russia has less diverging priorities with china than viceversa, and many such differences come from putin's position as a supporter of multilaterality, while some in china would prefer a new bilateralism, us-china first, then china-us. and i think china refusing russia military technology while selling it to ukraine doesn't help either. plus, two quad members (india and australia) are friendly to russia, other relations notwithstanding, so why contrariate them? then, there is a qualitative issue: you can't expect much predictability from a country which even sells herself, as china does now, so the options for those who want to be china's friends are complex, at least.
My guess is that Trump was looking at the numbers concerning startup investments in critical minerals and decided that this is a good job for China and India.
Ordinary Russians don't hate Americans or the US in general, they just despise that the US government, military, intel services, and media have helped Ukraine against their country.
As for how Putin could end the conflict, most likely through a series of mutual compromises (if it happens anytime soon) wherein neither side achieves their maximalist goals.
The Alt-Media psy-op that Russia will "inevitably" achieve all such goals is no different than the MSM media one vis-a-vis Ukraine and the West.
Same narrative structure, just for the other side and with accordingly tweaked rhetoric. Once you see the pattern, if you're honest, you can't "un-see" it.
Difficult to see how this is supposed to happen. Europe is out for war and wants to weaken Russia in its core. They don't seem to want peace whatsoever. How is anyone going to make any deals with this? Ukraine also doesn't want to give away the Donbass, and that seems to be a red line?
If the Americans were in Russia's place, Ukraine wouldn't function anymore, no electricity, no water from day 1. Ukraine and its economy would have turned into rubble, the government wouldn't be there anymore. But somehow Putin thinks someone wise will appear and negotiate in good faith...
Let us not indulge in wishful thinking. Quad (India, US, Japan, Australia) is potential Pacific NATO, an anti Russian organization. Why should Russia help it against its real allies China and Iran? The mantra about Russia becoming disproportionately dependent on China is a straw man argument.
There is no "wishful thinking" either -- frankly I don't emotionally care what Russia does or doesn't do -- but just a reflection of the real strategic calculations going on right now.
Either Russia soon reaches a deal over Ukraine or it de facto allies with China as its junior partner with all that entails in order to keep the SMO going till 2029 at the earliest.
You also couldn't be more wrong about what you describe as a "straw argument"; while it's true that some Western outlets have grossly exaggerated this trend, it nevertheless exists and accounts more than anything for why Russia remains close to India despite India's occasional westward drift since India is the only realistic counterbalance to China.
I can speak from a position of authority on this matter after receiving my PhD from the Russian MFA-run MGIMO for my dissertation on Russian-Pakistani relations, which I contextualized as part of Russia's Sino-Indo balancing act, the latter actually comprising the majority of my work:
I can also confirm from "sources" -- which I won't detail to keep their privacy per their request and whose opinions never influence my work but nevertheless sometimes corroborate it in this case -- that this is what is actually going on right now. Again, you don't have to believe me, and "arguments from authority" don't have to be automatically lent credence.
But "arguments from authority" like mine, and I am indisputably an authority on this specific subject, shouldn't ever be casually dismissed either by any honest observers who truly want to understand what's going on even if they ultimately disagree with the "authority" like I veritably am in this case.
Don't take my word for it though (and I'm sure you won't after your passive-aggressive claim that I'm simply indulging in "wishful thinking"), he's the face of Russia's hardline faction Sergey Karaganov literally saying the same thing:
"The idea of a Greater Eurasian Partnership is, among other things, the idea of building balanced relations in Eurasia, where the power of China will be counterbalanced by India, Russia, Türkiye, Iran – the great civilizational states.
...
But just in case, we need to create conditions so that under no circumstances does an ultranationalist government come to power in China, one that would embark on a path of expansion and aggression. That is something we must keep in mind."
Of course, I'm half-expecting you to concoct some kooky, convoluted conspiracy theory about how he's just "psyching out the West" or whatever (it's typical when Non-Russian Pro-Russians are confronted with "politically incorrect" facts).
Just to hammer home the point because I really don't respond well to people casually disrespecting me in the comments under my own page by dismissing my MFA-credentialed insight as "wishful thinking", the entire premise of my proposal is based on what Putin himself said early last year:
"Russia is one of the world’s undisputed leaders in rare earth metal reserves, "we have them in the north, in Murmansk, and in the Caucasus, in Kabardino-Balkaria, and in the Far East, in the Irkutsk region, in the Yakutia and Tyva [republics]."
Rare earth metals are the most important resource base of the modern economy: "And we have not done enough in this direction so far. We should do more."
Russia would be happy to work with any foreign partners in the rare earths industry, including American partners.
Moscow is ready to offer American and other foreign partners to participate in rare earth mining projects, including in Donbass and Novorossiya: "There are certain reserves there, too. We are ready to work there with our partners, including the Americans."
Russia and the US could also consider joint work on aluminum production: "For example, in the Krasnoyarsk Region, back in Soviet times, there were plans to build a new hydroelectric power plant and create additional aluminum production facilities."
If American companies work in Russia, "they will make a decent profit, and the corresponding amounts of aluminum will be delivered to the domestic market at absolutely acceptable market prices. There is a lot to think about here.""
That was hyperlinked to in my analysis, which you'd have seen had you actually read it closely. Again, you can think whatever you want, I personally don't care (nor do I personally care what Russia does or doesn't do anymore), but I won't eschew a response when someone disrespects me here.
China doesn't only have processing facilities but IP on a lot of processes that probably make the extraction more efficient, less environmentally problematic, etc... And why would Russia want to help the US military complex?
Let me try to understand this - so in order to secure critical mineral supplies from outside China, the QUAD's foreign ministers are going to go back to their own governments, and propose sourcing from Russia instead?
The proposal is for India to suggest phased resource-sector sanctions relief on Russia as part of a compromise solution over Ukraine, which aligns with Putin's vision from early last year of cooperating with the West as a whole in this industry after the SMO ends:
I have not questioned why such an idea might be in Russia's interests, but US', Japan's and Australia's? It is not as if these countries have no other choice, given Russia is not exactly a prominent power in critical mineral products - otherwise Russia would have already produced on their own, and leveraged supplies for their own benefits.
The best friend to have is RUSSIA. Russia has vast resources of all kinds and has the the largest number of nuclear weapons. The world keeps getting SMARTER, Russia has all you need, the USA is more limited. The world is more & more looking towards Russia for direction & answers.
What an ironic inversion of Lenin's words about the capitalists selling us the rope with which to hang them. This is what the article propose Russia do: undermine its most critical backer in order to help the US and Japan build a stronger military. No amount of profits is worth this disaster.
Even raising the possibility, on the eve of Trump's imposture on China, is already a backstab.
Russia should instead reach down and find a pair, and do what China did: embargo critical minerals, including uranium, titanium and rare earths, to the US and its vassals.
While China's continued purchase of Russian resources and export of tech to it are important, China is playing its own game too as I explained in this very detailed thread beginning here:
https://x.com/AKorybko/status/2054439354043363790
I am not denying that China has its own priorities, not necessarily matching Russia's. But this does not invalidate anything that I said.
Provocatively undermining China's key moves in order to rescue the American MIC is a policy so ill-advised as to border on suicidal. So much loss of credibility for such a little greed, not to even mention the fact that the munitions built with these Russian minerals will be used (already are being used) to kill Russians---that is what they are needed for. Both the US and Japan are consistently unwavering in their strategic hostility towards Russia. Russia should embargo these materials not in China's interest, but its own.
There's no proactive undermining of China in this proposal since China "undermines" itself by continuing to sell processed rare earth minerals to the US for use in its the same military-industrial complex that's hellbent on containing China just like Russia sells its energy to the same European one hellbent on doing the same to Russia.
Both Russia and China are therefore already "undermining" themselves in this context vis-a-vis their respective resource trades with the West, Russia's being raw materials from its own soil and China's being processed ones largely from elsewhere. This is the objectively existing and easily verifiable nature of their strategic resource cooperation with the West at present.
Also, as for what you or others think that Russia "should" do, that's not always -- actually, it rarely is -- what Russia ultimately does. Under the current ruling arrangement, little is likely to change, if anything. In fact, a reversion of part of the status quo ante bellum seems to be what Russia wants as proven by its repeated demands from Putin on down for the West to remove all its sanctions.
Coincidentally, here's Lavrov just earlier today for RT India:
"As you may be aware, we never punish anyone and always fulfill our obligations to our partners in good faith regardless of whether we are dealing with friendly or not so friendly countries. Once we strike an agreement, Russia traditionally honours its commitments under any deal.
...
The Japanese have also addressed this issue. Their new foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, made it clear that Japan would continue to exert pressure on Russia and remain one with its Western partners, but doing without Russian oil is a challenge for them. If they are willing to buy from us... We have never turned the economy or existing agreements into political tools."
https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2107824/
What I proposed is therefore fully in line with official Russian policy. You might dislike that policy, but it's what Russia is currently doing and likely will continue to do with even more gusto once the SMO ends if there's even partial sanctions relief as is expected.
And yes, even the unyielding Stalin supplied strategic resources to the Nazis until the very last moment. As a reminder, Operation Barbarossa only began once the last Russian train loaded with rare metals essential to the German arms industry had crossed the border in the early hours of June 21, 1941.”
This is critically important. China does have some natural resources, but in general, not much. China's current domination in the international rare earth market is due to three reasons: (1) China is willing to dig up its thin reserves in rare earth ores, although China does have the number one reserve in the world for a few materials. China has also mastered enough production technology. (2) China is "willing to pay" the environmental cost. Multiple cities and towns have suffered major industrial pollution due to rare earth. Even Xi had to address the pollution problem when he toured an industrial complex a few years ago during Trump's first term. (3) Other nations are content to import now and keep their own ores underground. Few other nations are willing to pay for the environmental cost of extracting rare earth.
China can play this card but not for long. (1) Competitive developers have sprung up in other nations with the financial backing of their respective governments. (2) If China stops export, it only forces the competitors to go online faster. The US, for example, has a known reserve completely dwarfing China. (3) China's own dwindling reserves will force a reduction in production. China only has a limited window to wield this weapon.
Careful, my friend. Andrew is in no way suggesting that Russia intends to double‑cross China by selling land to their common worst enemies through the most slimy eel of the East. This is a projection with numerous conditions. Judge for yourself: India COULD invite its Quad partners and ask them whether they COULD ask their respective governments to ask RUSSIA whether it COULD sell them rare earths. Three conditionals. The road is long and hazardous.
Exactly, the premise itself was inspired by none other than Putin, which a lot of people don't want to acknowledge because they strongly disagree with it yet can't bring themselves to constructively critique him even pseudonymously for some reason:
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-russian-far-east-could-help-the/comment/258238575
you don't know what provoked this reaction; what if shanghai gang promised china the russian far east in exchange for total subordination? russia has less diverging priorities with china than viceversa, and many such differences come from putin's position as a supporter of multilaterality, while some in china would prefer a new bilateralism, us-china first, then china-us. and i think china refusing russia military technology while selling it to ukraine doesn't help either. plus, two quad members (india and australia) are friendly to russia, other relations notwithstanding, so why contrariate them? then, there is a qualitative issue: you can't expect much predictability from a country which even sells herself, as china does now, so the options for those who want to be china's friends are complex, at least.
My guess is that Trump was looking at the numbers concerning startup investments in critical minerals and decided that this is a good job for China and India.
How is Putin going to end the conflict in Ukraine though?
I wonder what ordinary Russians think about cutting deals with the US, after the US armed and brainwashed those Ukrainians.
Ordinary Russians don't hate Americans or the US in general, they just despise that the US government, military, intel services, and media have helped Ukraine against their country.
As for how Putin could end the conflict, most likely through a series of mutual compromises (if it happens anytime soon) wherein neither side achieves their maximalist goals.
The Alt-Media psy-op that Russia will "inevitably" achieve all such goals is no different than the MSM media one vis-a-vis Ukraine and the West.
Same narrative structure, just for the other side and with accordingly tweaked rhetoric. Once you see the pattern, if you're honest, you can't "un-see" it.
Difficult to see how this is supposed to happen. Europe is out for war and wants to weaken Russia in its core. They don't seem to want peace whatsoever. How is anyone going to make any deals with this? Ukraine also doesn't want to give away the Donbass, and that seems to be a red line?
If the Americans were in Russia's place, Ukraine wouldn't function anymore, no electricity, no water from day 1. Ukraine and its economy would have turned into rubble, the government wouldn't be there anymore. But somehow Putin thinks someone wise will appear and negotiate in good faith...
Let us not indulge in wishful thinking. Quad (India, US, Japan, Australia) is potential Pacific NATO, an anti Russian organization. Why should Russia help it against its real allies China and Iran? The mantra about Russia becoming disproportionately dependent on China is a straw man argument.
China is not Russia's "ally" as I explained earlier this morning in this very detailed thread beginning here:
https://x.com/AKorybko/status/2054439354043363790
There is no "wishful thinking" either -- frankly I don't emotionally care what Russia does or doesn't do -- but just a reflection of the real strategic calculations going on right now.
Either Russia soon reaches a deal over Ukraine or it de facto allies with China as its junior partner with all that entails in order to keep the SMO going till 2029 at the earliest.
You also couldn't be more wrong about what you describe as a "straw argument"; while it's true that some Western outlets have grossly exaggerated this trend, it nevertheless exists and accounts more than anything for why Russia remains close to India despite India's occasional westward drift since India is the only realistic counterbalance to China.
I can speak from a position of authority on this matter after receiving my PhD from the Russian MFA-run MGIMO for my dissertation on Russian-Pakistani relations, which I contextualized as part of Russia's Sino-Indo balancing act, the latter actually comprising the majority of my work:
https://mgimo.ru/upload/diss/2022/Korybko_diss.pdf
I can also confirm from "sources" -- which I won't detail to keep their privacy per their request and whose opinions never influence my work but nevertheless sometimes corroborate it in this case -- that this is what is actually going on right now. Again, you don't have to believe me, and "arguments from authority" don't have to be automatically lent credence.
But "arguments from authority" like mine, and I am indisputably an authority on this specific subject, shouldn't ever be casually dismissed either by any honest observers who truly want to understand what's going on even if they ultimately disagree with the "authority" like I veritably am in this case.
Don't take my word for it though (and I'm sure you won't after your passive-aggressive claim that I'm simply indulging in "wishful thinking"), he's the face of Russia's hardline faction Sergey Karaganov literally saying the same thing:
"The idea of a Greater Eurasian Partnership is, among other things, the idea of building balanced relations in Eurasia, where the power of China will be counterbalanced by India, Russia, Türkiye, Iran – the great civilizational states.
...
But just in case, we need to create conditions so that under no circumstances does an ultranationalist government come to power in China, one that would embark on a path of expansion and aggression. That is something we must keep in mind."
https://journal-neo.su/2026/05/07/sergey-karaganov-we-need-to-formulate-a-new-ideology-for-ourselves-and-for-the-world-rooted-in-serving-the-individual/
Of course, I'm half-expecting you to concoct some kooky, convoluted conspiracy theory about how he's just "psyching out the West" or whatever (it's typical when Non-Russian Pro-Russians are confronted with "politically incorrect" facts).
Just to hammer home the point because I really don't respond well to people casually disrespecting me in the comments under my own page by dismissing my MFA-credentialed insight as "wishful thinking", the entire premise of my proposal is based on what Putin himself said early last year:
"Russia is one of the world’s undisputed leaders in rare earth metal reserves, "we have them in the north, in Murmansk, and in the Caucasus, in Kabardino-Balkaria, and in the Far East, in the Irkutsk region, in the Yakutia and Tyva [republics]."
Rare earth metals are the most important resource base of the modern economy: "And we have not done enough in this direction so far. We should do more."
Russia would be happy to work with any foreign partners in the rare earths industry, including American partners.
Moscow is ready to offer American and other foreign partners to participate in rare earth mining projects, including in Donbass and Novorossiya: "There are certain reserves there, too. We are ready to work there with our partners, including the Americans."
Russia and the US could also consider joint work on aluminum production: "For example, in the Krasnoyarsk Region, back in Soviet times, there were plans to build a new hydroelectric power plant and create additional aluminum production facilities."
If American companies work in Russia, "they will make a decent profit, and the corresponding amounts of aluminum will be delivered to the domestic market at absolutely acceptable market prices. There is a lot to think about here.""
https://tass.com/politics/1918503
That was hyperlinked to in my analysis, which you'd have seen had you actually read it closely. Again, you can think whatever you want, I personally don't care (nor do I personally care what Russia does or doesn't do anymore), but I won't eschew a response when someone disrespects me here.
China doesn't only have processing facilities but IP on a lot of processes that probably make the extraction more efficient, less environmentally problematic, etc... And why would Russia want to help the US military complex?
Let me try to understand this - so in order to secure critical mineral supplies from outside China, the QUAD's foreign ministers are going to go back to their own governments, and propose sourcing from Russia instead?
The proposal is for India to suggest phased resource-sector sanctions relief on Russia as part of a compromise solution over Ukraine, which aligns with Putin's vision from early last year of cooperating with the West as a whole in this industry after the SMO ends:
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-russian-far-east-could-help-the/comment/258238575
I have not questioned why such an idea might be in Russia's interests, but US', Japan's and Australia's? It is not as if these countries have no other choice, given Russia is not exactly a prominent power in critical mineral products - otherwise Russia would have already produced on their own, and leveraged supplies for their own benefits.