Trump urges trading Ukraine's rare earth minerals for more US aid

Kyiv: President Donald Trump said Monday he wants to strike a deal with Ukraine whereby Kyiv would supply the United States with rare earth minerals in exchange for American aid, offering the clearest sign yet of his transactional approach to supporting the war-torn nation.

"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 said from the Oval Office, where he was signing executive orders. "We want a guarantee."

Ukraine is rich in rare earth minerals such as lithium, uranium and titanium, which are crucial for manufacturing a broad range of modern products including electric car motors and wind turbines.

Trump's offer comes as his new government has halted foreign development aid worldwide, forcing many humanitarian organizations in Ukraine to suspend operations and leaving the Ukrainian government scrambling to secure alternative financing for critical programs, including support for its battered energy grid and war veterans.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US military assistance provided by the Biden administration had not been affected by the recent freeze on foreign aid. But Trump has long voiced reluctance to continue sending billions of dollars in weapons and other equipment to the beleaguered nation, arguing that it costs the US too much.

In many ways, Trump's offer to trade aid for rare earth minerals aligns with the transactional foreign policy strategy he has pursued since returning to office. He has been leveraging the US' economic power to pressure allies, including Colombia and Mexico, into agreeing to, or at least negotiating on, his demands.

By expressing interest in Ukraine's rare earth minerals, Trump is also picking up on an offer that originally came from Zelenskyy himself. In recent months, as the Ukrainian president looked for ways to appeal to the incoming Trump administration, he has emphasized that helping defend Ukraine is in America's economic interest since his country is rich in critical minerals that could boost US industries.

Reacting to Trump's statement, a top Ukrainian official said Monday night that Ukraine is ready to work with the US on rare earth mineral deals, provided the US offers sufficient security guarantees to prevent these resources from falling into Russian hands. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

Ukrainian authorities say the country holds deposits of more than 20 critical rare earth minerals, with some consulting and equity firms valuing them at several trillion dollars. But experts caution that the true value is hard to estimate as many reserves remain inaccessible, in part because of the Russian occupation of parts of Ukraine.

Ukraine had planned to sign an agreement with the Biden administration late last year to cooperate on extracting and processing minerals. But the Ukrainian authorities postponed the signing of such a deal, in what officials on both sides said was a signal that Kyiv was waiting for Trump to take office to strike an agreement with him.

In December, a Ukrainian government delegation met with US businesspeople in Washington, presenting potential business deals that included acquiring production licenses for critical minerals, either directly or through partnerships with existing license holders, according to a government presentation seen by The New York Times.

But how quickly and effectively Ukraine can finalize these deals remains uncertain. At a conference in Kyiv last week, Ukrainian business leaders and lawmakers stressed that much exploration remains to be done to assess the true value of the country's critical minerals. And administrative and legislative obstacles still hinder foreign investment in the sector.

What's more, Russia's advances on the battlefield have allowed Moscow's troops to seize significant reserves of rare earth minerals in Ukraine, and they are rapidly approaching other reserves. Russian forces are currently less than 7 miles from a major lithium reserve in Ukraine's southeastern Donetsk region.