Why is Ukraine negotiating minerals with the United States?

Ukrainian minister says that Kiev and Washington are about to sign a deal on the possibility of access to metal deposits in Ukraine.

Olga Stefanina, Deputy Prime Minister of European Integration and Atlantic, He said on x “The negotiations were very constructive, with the completion of all the main details.”

“We are committed to completing this quickly to move forward with his signature,” she added.

Ukraine is facing increasing pressure from the American administration to sign the deal, which ended in the growing rift center between American presidents and the United States.

Zelensky for the first time was included in a mineral agreement in the so -called “victory plan” he presented to Trump last September.

The idea was to provide the presidential candidate at the time a tangible reason for the United States to continue the support of Ukraine.

On Monday, the former UK Prime Minister Tell Boris Johnson BBC in Kyiv Such a deal was the “great prize” because it will secure “the commitment of the United States during the era of Donald Trump to Ukraine, free, sovereignty and safe.”

Kyiv estimates that about 5 % of the world’s “critical raw materials” is present in Ukraine. This includes about 19 million tons of graphite reserves that have proven useful, which the Ukrainian Geological Survey says it makes the nation “one of the five best leading countries” to supply the metal.

Graphite is used to make batteries for electric cars.

Ukraine also has a third of European lithium deposits, the main component of the current batteries. Before the Russian invasion, the global share of Titanium was produced, a lightweight metal used to build everything from aircraft to power stations, 7 %.

Moreover, Ukraine has large deposits of rare ground minerals. This is a group of 17 elements used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other vital products in the modern world.

Some metal deposits, however, were seized by Russia. According to Yulia Svydenko, Minister of Economy in Ukraine, resources are still worth 350 billion dollars (277 billion pounds) in the occupied areas today.

In 2022, SECDEV, a consultant geopolitical risk consultant in Canada, conducted an evaluation, proved that Russia occupied 63 % of Ukrainian charcoal mines, and half of its manganese, cesium, trinity, and rare ground deposits.

Dr. Robert Mugah, director of SECDEV, says that such minerals add “strategic and economic dimension” in Russia’s continuous aggression. By seizing them, he says, Moscow denies revenues from Ukraine, expands its resource base and affects global supply chains.

Dr. Mujah explained that critical minerals “are the basis of the economy in the twenty -first century.” He said it is essential for renewable energy, military applications and industrial infrastructure and play “an increasing strategic role in political geography and geological economy.”

In addition, the United States is keen on a deal on the mineral resources in Ukraine because it wants to reduce dependence on China, which controls 75 % of the rare land deposits in the world, according to the geological investment group.

In December, China banned the export of some rare ground minerals to the United States, after mineral exports previously restricted to the United States in the previous year.

On Monday, before his visit with French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz News News News told the deal that “economically related to the pie and bring the United States and Ukraine together to the future.”

Before Stefanina confirmed that the deal was close, there appear to be several adherent points.

Last Wednesday, Zelensky refused to claim the United States with a 50 % stake in rare Earth minerals – Trump said would reflect the amount of aid provided by the United States to Ukraine during its war with Russia.

“I cannot sell our country,” he said.

It seems that the rulings of the second draft of the deal on Sunday are more strict than they were in the first document.

Instead of the revenue division 50/50, the revised draft suggested that the United States is required to have full control, Zelensky said at the press conference on Sunday.

Trump said earlier this month that US military and economic aid to Ukraine amounts to about 500 billion dollars (396 billion pounds), and he wants the United States to reach Ukrainian minerals of this value.

However, Zelensky said that US aid is about $ 100 billion (79 billion pounds). KYIV has also insisted that the aid they received so far was a grant and not a balance, so Ukraine is not committed to returning anything.

Zelinski is also said to want any deal to include security guarantees.

On Monday, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on an agreement to reach the minerals of Ukraine “Grand Prix”.

He rejected the proposals that the deal was “torn” and said, “What Ukrainians get from this is the United States’ commitment during Donald Trump to Ukraine, free, sovereignty and safe.”

Some commentators described the US offer as “colonial”, but Kyiv is interested in joint exploration of its resources.

The development of these mineral resources is very difficult and costly, according to Iryna Suprun, CEO of the Geological Investment Group, a mining consulting company based in Ukraine.

She said that if they can attract American investors to develop their natural resources, this would be very useful for the country’s economy.

“We will get techniques that our mining industry lacks a lot,” Mrs. Superon explained. “We will get capital. This means more jobs and tax payments. We will get revenues from the development of metal deposits.”