Mongolia sees the inauguration of US President Donald Trump as "positive" and has been in close contact with his team over deepening cooperation, the country's prime minister told AFP on Tuesday.
A landlocked democracy sandwiched between China and Russia, Mongolia relies heavily on its authoritarian neighbours but has sought to strengthen ties with the West in a push to safeguard its sovereignty.
Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene said Ulaanbaatar saw the new Trump administration as a "great opportunity" to move forward with cooperation on everything from energy to tourism.
"President Trump personally knows... a great deal about Mongolia," he told AFP just hours after Trump began his second term.
"His family members have been on several personal trips to Mongolia to get acquainted with our nomadic lifestyle and beautiful landscape," he said.
"I do believe that we have great possibilities to cooperate with his administration going forward, to elevate the relationship between our two countries."
Mongolia would welcome a visit by Trump, he said, suggesting it could take place should the magnate make a trip to China.
"It is only a two-hour flight between Mongolia and China," he said. "We will seek the opportunity to organise his visit."
Mongolia is a major source of key minerals with coal exports, primarily to China, making up a major chunk of its foreign trade.
It signed a $1.6 billion investment deal with French nuclear giant Orano last week allowing it to exploit a vast uranium deposit in its southwest.
Oyun-Erdene said his team had been in "close contact with the transition team of President Trump's administration" with a view to continuing "our collaboration on critical minerals".
However, he acknowledged that threatened US tariffs on goods from China, Mongolia's largest trading partner, were sparking "worries" of an economic knock-on effect.
- 'Great hope' for Ukraine peace -
Oyun-Erdene also said there was "great hope" that Trump could help facilitate talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine, set to enter its third year next month.
Mongolia has not condemned the offensive and drew condemnation last year for its decision to welcome Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a state visit despite its status as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But the Mongolian prime minister defended that move, pointing to his country's "economic dependence and reliance on energy" from Russia.
"If Mongolia... arrest(ed) President Putin during his visit to Mongolia, then how would we transport President Putin to the ICC?" he said.
"We are a landlocked country," he said, stressing the need to "safeguard" its hard-won democracy in the face of its "two difficult neighbours".
He urged Western partners to help Mongolia decrease its "economic dependency on our two neighbours" instead of asking it to take "difficult" political positions.
"We would like to have more assistance from the West... help that can be more tangible, concrete and visible," he said.