Kremlin says Russia has lots of rare earth metals that the US needs and is open to cooperation

MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia had lots of rare earth metal deposits and that it was open to doing deals to develop them after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of such a deal with the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had its own plans to develop its metal deposits but was ready to cooperate with the U.S. when the "moment of political will" arrived.

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-U.S. economic deal.

Russia has the world's fifth-largest reserves of rare earth metals, according to the U.S. Geological Survey data, after China, Brazil, India and Australia.