In an age of intense great-power competition, landlocked democracies are challenged in preserving their diplomatic portfolios. This careful balancing took center stage in Berlin when Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh arrived for an official visit at the invitation of German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The visit is significant for European-Asian relations, marking the most important bilateral engagement between the two countries in over 10 years. As reported by Montsame News Agency, discussions between the two heads of state focused on expanding joint clean industrial initiatives and securing development agreements. Underlying this is Mongolia’s long-standing “Third Neighbor” policy, which seeks to ensure its economic cooperation does not become geopolitical vassalage. The policy is based on developing Mongolia’s economy through links with countries other than its two immediate land neighbours, Russia and China.

​Geographically trapped between Russia to the north and China to the south, Mongolia occupies one of the most sensitive geopolitical positions on the planet. Ulaanbaatar has sought to protect its democratic institutions through political, cultural, and trade ties with its so-called “third neighbors” (Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S.). The policy is fragile given Western sanctions on Moscow and the increasingly hostile trade relationship with Beijing. Mongolia depends entirely on Russian energy for electricity and fuel supplies. More than 80 percent of its mineral exports across the southern border go to Chinese industry. A Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung analysis points out that Khürelsükh’s mission to Berlin aims to give Mongolia breathing space. It intends to allow the country to remain a neutral player in international affairs, committed to the rules-based order, without being squeezed by economic pressure from either neighbor.

​A key element of this phase of diplomacy is Mongolia’s vast endowment of critical raw materials essential to the worldwide transition to renewable energy. The country has large quantities of untapped copper, lithium, uranium, and other materials. Germany established a formal raw materials partnership with Mongolia in 2011. The German government is vigorously pursuing an approach to diversify its critical supply chains away from total dependence on one source. According to policy briefs from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, German technical assistance supports the German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology in Ulaanbaatar. The aim is to build domestic processing capacity rather than treat Mongolia as just a raw materials extraction hub. As the European Governance and Security Institute’s Security and Trade Review states, access to Mongolian uranium and other critical minerals provides Europe with significant supply chain diversification and gives Ulaanbaatar the sovereign revenues needed to modernize its economy. Ulaanbaatar has always been a country of positive neutrality, nuclear non-proliferation, and multilateralism. The only real problem is the complete logistical difficulty. As the regional energy folks have pointed out, being a landlocked country means that every kilo of refined mineral output or high-tech equipment that Mongolia wants to send to Europe has to go via Russian rail or Chinese ports. That leaves it extremely exposed to the risk of sudden border closure or tariff spike.

​The international community must go beyond transactional resource deals and invest in long-term multilateral resilience. Germany may support Mongolia’s economic self-determination through local processing, with a clear devotion to environmental standards and the rights of local communities protected by international labor law. The UN and the World Bank should work with Central Asian transit corridors to formalize internationally guaranteed trade routes benefiting landlocked developing countries. European democracies must provide strong institutional backing for Mongolia’s active peace diplomacy. Transparent networks can enable the global community to demonstrate that national security is best preserved through cooperative diplomatic partnerships.

Published Date:2026-10-22