Ukraine to sign mineral deal with US amidst security concerns
The signing of an agreement regarding rare earth metals between Ukraine and the USA could happen as early as Friday. Donald Trump was asked what benefits Ukraine will receive from signing the contract. "A right to fight on," stated the US president.
While signing decrees in the Oval Office, Donald Trump answered journalists' questions. The US president was asked, among other things, what Ukraine will receive in return for signing the agreement regarding rare earth metals, which could happen as early as Friday.
"350 billion dollars, military equipment and the right to fight on," stated Trump. "Ukraine, I will say they're very brave, and they're good soldiers, but without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short time," he added.
Trump reiterated that America wants to reclaim the money spent on supporting Ukraine. Once again, he claimed—contrary to facts—that America spent 350 billion dollars while Europe spent 100 billion, all in the form of loans. As French President Emmanuel Macron corrected him on Monday, Europe has spent more than the United States (140 billion dollars compared to the USA's 114), with loans being repaid with profits from Russian assets granted to Ukraine by both the USA and the EU.
Mineral agreement
The USA and Ukraine have agreed on a deal on rare earth minerals after days of tension between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. Kyiv is ready to sign the agreement on the joint development of Ukrainian mineral deposits, including oil and gas, after the USA dropped the demand for rights to 500 billion dollars in revenues from these resources.
Donald Trump previously demanded preferential access to this amount as compensation for his predecessor, Joe Biden's US military support of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky rejected this proposal as "unserious," claiming there is no basis for the claim that these funds are owed to the USA and that the agreement does not provide Ukraine with security guarantees.
Zelensky also claimed that Trump lives in a "bubble of Russian misinformation," which outraged the US president and senior White House officials. Trump called Zelensky a "dictator," and his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz warned him to "slow down. " Waltz said the agreement is "the best security guarantee" Ukraine can get.
Cooperation prospects
Ukrainian officials claim they have negotiated significantly more favourable terms and present the agreement as a way to expand relations with the USA, even though it still lacks security guarantees. However, future arms supplies are still being discussed between Washington and Kyiv.
Zelensky will meet Trump in Washington on Friday after US and Kyiv officials recommended signing the agreement. The final version of the agreement will establish a fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of the revenues from the "future monetisation" of state mineral resources.
Ukraine's mineral resources
Ukraine has some of Europe's largest deposits of critical minerals, including lithium and titanium, many of which remain untapped. According to the Institute of Geology, Ukraine possesses rare earth elements such as lanthanum and cerium, which are used in televisions and lighting, and neodymium, which is used in wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries. It also has erbium and yttrium, whose applications include nuclear energy and lasers.
EU-funded research also indicates Ukraine has scandium reserves, but detailed data is classified.
Over half of the country's resources are located in four regions that Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in September 2022. These are Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, although Kherson has little value in minerals.
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