Ukraine's rare earth deal: Security for vital resources
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, discussed with Donald Trump in the autumn of 2024 the possibility of offering Ukraine's rare earth metal deposits to key partners in exchange for security guarantees, Ukrainian media reported.
The Suspilne portal, citing sources in the Ukrainian president's office, reported that Zelensky included the issue of rare earth metal resources in his "victory plan", hoping for cooperation with the United States.
One of the portal's interlocutors emphasised that to ensure the use of these resources, "it is necessary to guarantee security so that the Russians do not seize the lands where they are located."
Similar reports were presented by the RBC-Ukraine portal, which—citing an anonymous source close to the president—informed that this is an issue that "President Zelenskyy discussed this issue with Donald Trump during their meeting last fall."
The President of the USA suggested on Monday that he expects Ukraine to secure American access to rare earth metals in exchange for continued military support. - We're telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths. We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things – Trump stated.
He also added: We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it.
However, he did not specify exactly what such an agreement would look like, merely emphasising that Kyiv is showing interest in such a solution.
Deposits worth trillions of dollars
Ukraine possesses significant resources crucial to the global economy, and control over them was one of the reasons for Russia's aggression against the country. As analysts from the Polish Chamber of Ecology recalled in a report from 2023, Ukraine has large reserves of industrial metals, some of the largest rare earth metal resources in Europe, and promising lithium deposits.
According to estimates, the so-called Volyn-Azov Shield region may contain 550 tonnes of lithium, called "white gold" due to its importance in the green transition, especially as a key component of lithium-ion batteries.
The value of metal deposits in Ukraine is estimated at 10-12 trillion dollars, part of which is located in areas occupied by Russia.
Meanwhile, Forbes estimated in 2023 that the value of the deposits reaches 15 trillion dollars, with as much as 70 percent of them located in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions—currently occupied by Russian forces.
