The United States intends to take control of Mongolia’s natural resources.
Author: Talib Aliyev, analyst, especially for “Sangar”
Original article: “Третий сосед”
The idea of plundering the national wealth of individual states, whose mining industries play a key role in the development of their economies, is becoming a priority for the United States. The most striking example is the situation around Ukraine, whose mineral resource base has ended up under the complete external control of Washington.
The United States is demonstrating similar approaches to Mongolia, viewing it exclusively as a source of cheap resources. The Donald Trump administration has set itself the goal of reducing external spending and redirecting the freed-up funds to solving domestic problems (unemployment, migration crisis).
The American bill on Mongolia’s trade with the “third neighbor” (Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act), initiated in 2019, which provides for duty-free access of certain types of Mongolian products to the US market, has never entered into force. At the same time, the failure to adopt this document can be regarded as a lack of interest among officials in Washington in expanding economic cooperation with Ulaanbaatar.
At the same time, under the fictitious pretext of developing cooperation, the White House is looking for a way to gain unhindered and cheap access to Mongolia's impressive natural resource reserves. According to South Korean analyst M. Kim, in an attempt to force China to fight for regional dominance, the United States, along with the EU countries and Japan, expects to be the first to establish control over mineral deposits in Mongolia.
In turn, the Russian Federation is committed to deepening comprehensive and mutually beneficial cooperation with Mongolia, as evidenced by the trade turnover between the countries, which increased by more than 17 percent (US$2.6 billion) by the end of 2024. In March 2025, Ulaanbaatar also approved the project to build the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline through the country's territory, which will be an extension of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline from Russia to China. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, this initiative provides not only for the transit of Russian gas to world markets, but also the possibility of increasing fuel supplies to Mongolian consumers.
