Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson discusses talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on ‘The Story.’ ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,

European nations are rushing to spend more as America threatens to withdraw its longstanding protection.

As President Donald Trump works to strike a deal to end the three-year war in Ukraine, an important piece of the negotiations for the president has revolved around accessing rare earth elements from the war-torn country as compensation for American military support.

Ukraine holds trillions of dollars worth of rare earth elements, which are critical for the modern high-tech economy.

President Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss issues including the war in Ukraine, where the two have expressed starkly different views. Macron has argued that any negotiated end to the war must come with “strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians,

Latvia's foreign minister warns that Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to achieve in peace talks what he hasn’t been able to accomplish in his war against Ukraine — weaken the United States and restore control over his smaller neighbor.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow and Washington could make a deal on mining rare earth minerals both in Russia and parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered the U.S. the opportunity for joint exploration of the country's rare earth metals deposits, as well as the supply of aluminum to the U.S. domestic market, under a future economic deal.

The divide between the U.S. and our allies is growing over Russia's war in Ukraine due to President Trump's comments about Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and his refusal to call Russian President Putin a dictator.

This comes after US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for Ukraine to give up some of its minerals in exchange for support, in a deal which is currently being finalised, according to a Ukrainian minister.

In an interview broadcast on Monday, President Vladimir Putin said U.S. companies stood to profit in Russia, but suggested a Ukraine peace deal was still far off.