US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he wants the Ukraine to provide the United States with minerals for rare earth to financially support the country’s payment of the country’s war effort against Russia.
Trump, who spoke to reporters in the White House, said Ukraine was ready and added that he wanted “compensation” from Ukraine to support Washington.
“We tell Ukraine that they have very valuable rare earths,” said Trump. “We want to make a deal with Ukraine where they will make sure what we give them with their rare earths and other things.”
It was not immediately clear whether Trump used the term “rare earth” to refer to all types of critical minerals or only to rare earths.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals with which magnets are produced with which electric vehicles, mobile phones and other electronics get in motion. No substitutes are known.
In the US Geological Survey, 50 minerals for the economy and national defense of the country are of crucial importance, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium.
Ukraine contains large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium, although nobody is considered among the five largest in the world and the United States has its own undeveloped reserves of these and other critical minerals.
The United States has only one rare earth in the mine and very little processing capacity, although several companies are working on developing projects in the country. China is the world’s largest producer of rare earths and many other critical minerals.
Several Ukrainian media reported on Monday that the so-called victory schedule, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put together and shared with US leaders last year, put together the discussion about the transfer of such minerals with allies.
However, the countries that contain these resources must remain under Ukrainian control so that this is a point that Kyiv underlined, as Kyiv Independent and RBC Ukraine, which cited both unnamed sources in Zelenskyy’s office.
War for almost 3 years
Ukraine has been fighting against Russia’s comprehensive invasion for almost three years and the United States was a critical source of support for Kyiv’s war effort.
Trump’s return to the White House has raised questions to support US politics to support Ukraine in comparison to the administration of the former US President Joe Biden, who was in office when Russia shifted in office in February 2022.
The government of Biden was one of the strongest supporters in Ukraine in their fight against Russia.
Trump and members of his new administration have temporarily given mixed signals for the future support of the United States for Ukraine.
Scott Bessent, Secretary of the US Ministry of Finance, said during a confirmation hearing that he would support to put stronger sanctions against Russian oil – although the restriction was if Trump wanted to happen. Oil is an important source of income for Moscow and its war effort against Ukraine.
Trump threatened tariffs for Russia in the Ukraine secretary and said on Friday that his government spoke to Russia and that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could take “significant” measures to end the war.
Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, The Associated Press announced on Saturday that all negotiations between the United States and Russia, but without its country, were unacceptable.
“You may have your own relationships, but talk about Ukraine without us – it is dangerous for everyone,” said Zelenskyy.
Petro Poroshenko, a Ukrainian legislator and former president of the country, says that the way to peace is to support Ukraine against Russian aggression.
“If you want peace, you should motivate Putin to stop the war,” he told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
“If you want to motivate Putin to stop war, you should provide Ukraine more weapons (and), you should introduce more sanctions,” he said.
