SECRETARY RUBIO: Hey guys. How are we doing? Thank you for covering this today. It's - this Critical Minerals Ministerial is off to a great start.
We have 55 partners that we're hoping to enter into collaboration with; many have already signed on. And the goal here is very simple. We all understand that having a reliable global supply chains in critical minerals and processed and finished materials are critical to everything we do, as I pointed out in my opening statement to the group. And I think this is a broader mistake made by the industrialized and developed world, is we all sort of fell in love with the design of these things, but forgot that in order to design something you have to be able to build it, and in order to build it you have to have the fundamental materials necessary to make it with. That's the key goal of critical minerals supply, and today it's heavily concentrated in the hands of one country. And that lends itself to, at worst-case scenario, being used as a tool of leverage in geopolitics, but it also lends itself to any sort of disruptions, like a pandemic or anything that could - political instability or anything that could happen. And so, it's key and important, and I think there's a growing global recognition that we need to have supply chains for critical minerals that are reliable and diverse across the world.
Some countries have a number of critical minerals that they have available to them in terms of mining, but just haven't been able to do it because a foreign competitor will come in, they'll gut the price, they'll undercut it through state subsidies and unfair practices, and so it becomes economically unviable to be able to explore for critical minerals.
In other cases, it's the processing. Again, falls victim to the exact same thing. The private sector can't invest in these things because some competitor will come in and they'll basically do it under cost for purposes of establishing market share dominance. And then once they control that industry and they're the only ones in the world that do it, then they can charge you anything they want, but they can also use it against you as leverage, or it could be disrupted if there was any sort of global disruption and so forth. And this is not a sustainable situation.
So, it's why we've made it a priority. First, we try to lead by example in what we've done here in the United States. And that includes permitting reform that makes it easier to go into this industry on the critical minerals we have here domestically. But also, the creating demand, which is what the President announced yesterday by the creating - by the announcement of a strategic stockpile of critical minerals.
But we understand that this is a global challenge that requires a global response. And so, we're working here today to create a forum for that to happen. And part of this is this new initiative, FORGE, which we described earlier. We have a number of countries that have signed on to that, and many more that we hope will do so. That was our first session, was the launching of this FORGE initiative.
Let me just say I want to thank the Republic of Korea, because they've been - they've been - for their leadership on the previous entity that was filling this gap, which was MSP. But we're moving forward on this thing called FORGE. And the purpose of FORGE is to foster collaboration and to build a network of partners across the world, many of whom were in that room today.
This afternoon there'll be additional sessions, led by Trade Representative Greer, who's going to present on a price forward mechanism, and that's designed to make sure that these commodities will never fall below a certain price so that they can become economically viable. The idea is to protect people's investments, investments in these sectors across the world. They'll hear from Secretary of Energy Wright. They'll hear from the Development Finance Corporation, they'll hear from the EXIM Bank, they'll hear from the Department of War. They're going to showcase financing tools and programs for critical minerals investment. And then Treasury Secretary Bessent is going to close out later tonight the ministerial later this afternoon.
We're planning to sign new critical minerals frameworks with several partners later today. And I want to just highlight again this is really a historic gathering and highlights the billions of dollars the United States Government has already committed towards this endeavor. And that's going to enable private sector investment to - towards creating reliable supply chains that are vital, as I said, to technological innovation, economic strength, and also national security.
So, we thank you, again, for covering this, and we're grateful for all of our partners that are here today. And as I said, 55 partners, 54 countries and the European Union were here, and we think there are many more countries that are going to be interested in joining this initiative as it moves forward. And I think our team here did a great job of pulling this together. And of course, the day's not done.
All right, let's get to your questions. And I apologize ahead of time: I know I did, like, a two-and-a-half-hour press briefing; I can't do that today because they need this room for the family photo. So they have to have us clear out so they can set that up.
Tommy, you're going to call people, just because if not they'll get mad that I didn't call on them, so they'll blame you. (Laughter.) All right.
MR PIGOTT: (Laughter.) Yeah, indeed. First question to Alex Salvi from Newsmax.
QUESTION: Good morning, sir.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Hey, good morning.
QUESTION: The United States has a vested interest now in the critical minerals inside of Ukraine following last year's agreement. We know that the United States this week is monitoring and hosting, of course, trilateral talks between Kyiv and Moscow. And while there does seem to be a framework at least when it comes to security guarantees, when it comes to any territorial disputes, there does not seem to be much movement one way or the other. Is there any progress being made on that front, and do critical minerals play into those conversations?
And separately, sir, if I could also ask about the New START Treaty with Russia, that expires tomorrow.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. I don't have any announcement on New START right now; I think the President will opine on it later. Obviously, the President's been clear in the past that in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it's impossible to do something that doesn't include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile.
On the question of the talks, they're today and tomorrow in Abu Dhabi. Look, the good news is that for the first time in a very long time, we have technical military teams from both Ukraine and Russia meeting in a forum that we'll also be involved with, and our experts, Steve and Jared - Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner - will also be attending for part of that, and we think that's important. And look, I don't want to say talks alone are progress, but it's good that there's engagement going on. I would also caution everyone that on things like this - because there's a lot of sensitives involved in it - progress is probably not going to be known, even via leaks, until we really have a breakthrough.
Our goal is to remain committed. We've committed a year to this. We think we've made real progress. If you look at the checklist of open items that existed at this time last year and the checklist of open items that remain now in terms of reaching a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, that list has been substantially diminished. That's the good news. The bad news is that the items that remain are the most difficult ones. And, meanwhile, the war continues.
So, all I can say in that regard is that we are investing, at a very high level, a substantial amount of time and energy to this endeavor. We are going to continue to do everything we can to see if there's a breakthrough. And one of the things to understand about ending armed conflicts is oftentimes it looks totally hopeless until you have this breakthrough that sometimes is unforeseen. That was certainly the experience with Gaza, where a lot of people thought that was a hopeless situation, but we kept pushing and pushing, and then circumstances aligned and made it possible. And obviously that's what we're going to endeavor to do here as well.
As far as critical minerals are concerned, look, that's a part of economic prosperity for Ukraine and its future. This war will end at some point, and when it does, Ukraine needs to be able to harness all of the resources of their country to be able to rebuild it. Ukraine has tremendous economic potential. It is a country that could probably double its GDP in the next decade with the right economic moves. And we certainly think that is part of an enduring peace. And so, a lot of work and thinking has gone into that ahead of time. And so - that hopefully it will be able to be actioned on, as soon as the war comes to a conclusion.
MR PIGOTT: Our next question will be from (inaudible) Idiart from La Nación.
QUESTION: Good morning, Secretary. Specifically, what role can Argentina play in this agreement on critical minerals? And also, I would like to ask if U.S. is in talks with Argentina for send their immigrants deported from third countries. Thank you so much.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. Yeah, on the second point, I would say, look, we have conversations about countries willing to accept third-party nationals, but we don't have any deal or anything lined up. I know it's been the subject of media leaks, and sometimes those are with malicious intent. But certainly, Argentina's a great partner across the board, and at the end of the day we have tremendous faith, confidence in our relationship with President Milei and his team. And he will always act in the best interests of the people of Argentina, in the national interest of his country. And so, we appreciate that.
And on the first point, Argentina is not just a - has the capability from a natural resources standpoint to be a key partner in critical minerals - for the world, not just for the United States, for the world, in a way that's good for Argentina. It also has expertise in processing, and which I think is also going to be critically important.
So, both because of geology, meaning their geographic location, and their expertise, they've already taken tremendous steps. And they were one of our featured speakers in session one, and Foreign Minister Quirno was there because Argentina's been one of the global leaders in this regard. So, both because of the resources available and because of the ability to invest and the expertise they have in the processing, I think Argentina is going to be a key partner for the world - not just for the United States. And certainly, being located in the Western Hemisphere is of strategic value both to Argentina, but obviously to the United States as well.
MR PIGOTT: Our next question will be from Elizabeth Hagedorn from Al-Monitor.
QUESTION: Secretary Rubio, can you confirm the format and location of Friday's talks with Iran and clarify, given that Iran refuses to negotiate its missile program and insists on a right to enriched uranium, is the U.S. open to a compromise, if that means reaching a deal to avoid military action? And separately, if I may, how exactly do these negotiations advance President Trump's repeated pledges to help the Iranian protesters, many of whom are likely to see these nuclear talks as legitimatizing the very government that violently massacred its own people?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. Well, let me first say, just on the logistics, at the end - let me back up and say from a big-picture perspective, I think it's pretty clear right now that President Trump is willing to talk to and meet with and engage with anyone in the world. I mean, that - we don't view meetings as a concession. We don't view meetings as even legitimization. It is our - our willingness to sit and listen and talk to anyone - any adversary, any ally, obviously, but anyone around the world. And so, the President's always been open to that. He was - he showed that in the first administration, and he's showing it again now.
And so, I think if there's an opportunity to engage directly with counterparts in the Iranian regime, the United States would be open to that, and that's what we're open to. We thought we had an established forum that had been agreed to in Türkiye. It was put together by a number of partners who wanted to attend and be a part of it. I saw conflicting reports yesterday from the Iranian side saying that they had not agreed to that. So that's still being worked through. At the end of the day, the United States is prepared to engage - and has always been prepared to engage - with Iran.
As far as the topic of those discussions and what the agenda needs to be, look, I think in order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles. That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program, and that includes the treatment of their own people.
The fundamental problem Iran faces and the regime faces right now is that what people are on the streets complaining about, this regime cannot address. They cannot address it because it's economic. Those problems remain. And one of the reasons why the Iranian regime cannot provide the people of Iran the quality of life that they deserve is because they're spending all their money, they're spending all their resources - of what is a rich country - sponsoring terrorism, sponsoring all these proxy groups around the world, exporting - as they call it - their revolution.
But I remind everybody, what I've been saying through my entire career in public service. I said it in my hearing when I was being - asking for confirmation through the Senate: The Iranian people and the Iranian regime are very unalike. In essence, what the Iranian people want - this is a culture with a deep history. These are people that - the leadership of Iran at the clerical level do - does not reflect the people of Iran. I know of no other country where there's a bigger difference between the people that lead the country and the people who live there, and so our hope resides in that.
As far as the President's views on the way protesters are treated, he was very clear about it. And as you saw, part of what the President said publicly prevented mass executions that were being planned and we were on the precipice of, and obviously beyond that the President retains a number of options in how he responds to that and future events.
But as far as the talks are concerned, I think the Iranians had agreed to a certain format, for whatever reason has changed in their system or what have you. We'll see if we can get back to the right place. But the United States is prepared to meet with them. I think it was scheduled for Friday. Steve is ready to go. He'll be prepared for that. If the Iranians want to meet, we're ready. They've expressed an interest in meeting and talking. If they change their mind, we're fine with that, too. We'd prefer to meet and talk. I'm not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we're going to try to find out. We don't see there's any harm in trying to figure out if there's something that can be done. This is a president that always prefers a peaceful outcome to any conflict or any challenge.
MR PIGOTT: We have time for one final question, this one from Naoufal Enhari from Maghred - from Maghreb Arabe Presse.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Naoufal Enhari, Morocco's news agency. My question is with regard to African countries, including Morocco is participating today. How do you envision their role in this ministerial and in the forum going forward?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, again, it's the same - first of all, this - as I've highlighted before, this is an American initiative to bring people together. We want to serve as the convener, but this is a global challenge. There is not a country in the world that doesn't face this challenge of critical mineral supply chains. Just from the perspective of trying to grow economically, okay, everybody wants to be in AI, everybody - center. Everyone wants to be - wants to advance industrially and technologically. Everyone wants to be able to defend their national security.
All of these things - whether it's a cell phone, a computer, a semiconductor facility, or the weapons that protect your country - all of these things have to be built components, and these components invariably involve critical minerals that don't just have to be mined, they have to be processed. So, every country has that interest, to have a global supply of critical minerals - not just the raw material but the processed material that is usable for an industrial capacity - and Morocco shares that with everybody.
Second is every country in the world has - even though they call it rare earth and critical and - they're not really that rare. Every country has some deposits of critical minerals. They're different ones in different parts of the world. And so, I think Morocco, like any country in the world, would want to be able to use those natural resources in an environmentally responsible way to develop its own economy. And not just the mining but potentially moving to the processing as well.
And so, what you look at is if every country in the world has strategic advantages in terms of what it can mine and what it can process, you want to create a network of countries - as many as possible across the world - where we have a reliable supply of critical minerals. This is critical for Morocco, and they can play a very key role because they do have critical mineral supplies that they can - that they can be mining, and that creates economic development. But I also think they have a vested interest, like every country I think does, in having a reliable and diverse supply across the world of processed and finished and refined materials that can be used for economic advancement in a cost - in a cost-effective way.
So, I think Morocco plays a key role - because of the deposits that it has, but also because of its willingness to invest in processing and its cooperation in being willing to be a part of this global initiative - which it will have to be a global initiative. No country in the world has every critical mineral that's valuable. And so, it will rely on international cooperation that - right now you have 90-something percent of some of these elements controlled by one nation, in one place, and that's just not healthy for the global economy, and it's certainly not healthy for security and stability. So, Morocco can be a key part of that, and we're very happy they're here today and seated there at the table with us, so - okay.
MR PIGOTT: Thank you. This concludes today's press availability.
SECRETARY RUBIO: I apologize. I love doing long press conferences. I'd do a longer one, but they - we've got to use this for the family photo. All right. Thank you.
MR PIGOTT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you.
