In a calculated effort to sway Washington, the Kremlin is keen to underscore its preference for a rare-earth resources deal between Russia and the US over one with Ukraine. On February 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary questioned whether President Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to "sell" all of Ukraine to the US. A day later, the Russian state-run TV channel "Vesti" accused Washington of blackmailing Kyiv into a rare-earth resources agreement. Earlier, on February 22, the