The Kremlin, asked about an assertion by US President Donald Trump that Russia was open to European peacekeepers being deployed in Ukraine, referred reporters to an earlier statement that such a move would be unacceptable to Moscow.
Russia has repeatedly said it opposes having NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying last week that Moscow would view that as a "direct threat" to Russia's sovereignty, even if the troops operated there under a different flag.
Asked about Trump's comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from publicly contradicting the US president, but effectively reaffirmed Russia's opposition to the idea.
"There is a position on this matter that was expressed by the Russian Foreign Minister, Lavrov. I have nothing to add to this and nothing to comment on. I leave this without comment," said Peskov.
Trump said on Monday that both he and Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the idea of European peacekeepers in Ukraine if a settlement was reached to end the war.
"Yeah, he will accept that," Trump said. "I specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it."
Rare earth metals
The Kremlin also said that Russia had lots of rare earth metal deposits and that it was open to doing deals to develop them after Putin held out the possibility of such collaboration with the United States.
"The Americans need rare earth metals. We have a lot of them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"We have our own plans to develop strategic resources, but there are quite broad prospects for cooperation here," he told reporters.
Putin told state TV on Monday that Russia was open to joint projects with American partners - including government and the private sector - under a future Russia-US economic deal.
Trump has pledged that "major economic development transactions with Russia" would take place.
Peskov said there was still a lot of work to be done to normalize relations between Moscow and Washington before any economic deals could be struck.
"Next on the agenda is the issue of resolving the Ukrainian crisis", said Peskov. "And then, especially since the Americans themselves have also spoken about it, it will be time to consider possible projects related to trade, economic and investment cooperation."
"When there comes, let's say, a moment of political will, we will be open to this (cooperation on rare earth metals)," Peskov added.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for electric vehicles, cell phones, missile systems, and other electronics.
Russia has the world's fifth-largest reserves of rare earth metals, according to the US Geological Survey data, after China, Brazil, India and Australia.
The US and Ukraine are negotiating a separate deal involving rare earth metals. Trump said this week that deal was "pretty close" to conclusion. Putin on Monday said those negotiations were not a concern for Russia.
