WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio underlined on Friday that there should be a reliable global supply chain for critical minerals.
Rubio made the remarks while addressing a ministerial meeting on critical minerals, held at the US State Department, with the participation of more than 50 countries.
"The goal here is very simple. We all understand that having a reliable global supply chain for critical minerals and processed and finished materials is critical to everything we do," he said.
"That's the key goal of a critical mineral 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 disruption, like a pandemic or anything that could cause political instability or anything that could happen," he added.
"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," Rubio noted.
He went on saying, "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." (end) rsr.mt