“Not for the media”: Zelensky responds to Trump on rare earth metals
12 February 16:58
US President Donald Trump has demanded $500 billion worth of rare earth metals from Ukraine in exchange for military support. He said that the US should have access to Ukraine’s natural resources, regardless of whether Kyiv manages to reach a peace agreement with Russia. Moreover, Trump has even said that Ukraine is ready to accept such a deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke in detail on this topic for the first time in an interview with The Guardian published today, February 12, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to Zelensky, Ukrainian subsoil should first of all be protected from the Russians. Because they take away Ukrainian minerals for free.
“Today we are very flexible with our partners in this regard. I believe it should be mutually beneficial. Today it is not profitable for us. They are taking what belongs to the Ukrainian people for free. This needs to be protected, because it is even more difficult and expensive. Then there are minerals and rare earths, and volumes of titanium, volumes of uranium, manganese, and many other things,”
– said the President of Ukraine.
According to him, it is better to share these resources with those who help Ukraine defend itself than to leave them to the Russians.
“We can give our partners the opportunity to invest in them [minerals]. First of all, American business, American companies. We can develop together. Extraction and processing means jobs for us and revenue for American companies. We are very open, but we need to talk about it in detail,”
– the President said.
He added that he had already shared figures with partners on the likely volumes of products they are interested in, but these figures are not for the media.
“An example of uranium or titanium – we are the largest at least in Europe. It is very important to protect this so that it does not go to the Russians or someone else to whom the Russians can give it to, such as Iran or North Korea. I don’t think it’s in the interests of the United States. It is in the interests of the United States that it be genuine, controlled by Ukraine and accessed by the Western world, normal civilized partners,”
– zelenskyy said.
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What is known about rare earth metals in Ukraine?
Rare earth metals are a group of 17 chemical elements that include lanthanides, as well as scandium and yttrium. They have unique physical and chemical properties that make them indispensable in many high-tech industries, such as electronics, green energy, medicine, and optics. In particular, rare earth elements are used in the production of smartphones, computers, medical equipment, lasers, and to create strong and lightweight alloys.
Ukraine has significant reserves of rare earth metals and other critical resources. According to MiningWorld, the country has unique deposits of beryllium, zirconium, tantalum, and a complex of phosphorus rare earth and rare metal ores. Ukraine’s proven lithium reserves are the largest in Europe. In addition, Ukraine is one of the richest European countries in terms of rare-metal reserves, and the value of these deposits is estimated at up to USD 12 trillion.
Despite its considerable potential, Ukraine has not yet started mining rare earth metals. The country imports about 100 tons of rare earth metals per year.
In total, several hundred points of rare earth metal concentrations have been identified on the territory of Ukraine that require further study. Most of them are located within the Ukrainian Shield, which can be considered the largest rare earth metallogenic province in Europe.
Utilizing this potential can contribute to the country’s economic development and strengthen its position in the global high-tech market.
