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President Donald Trump said that the United States has already provided Ukraine with a huge amount of aid, which far exceeds what the whole of Europe has given in total. But at the same time, this war concerns Americans to a much lesser extent than Europeans. After all, there is an entire ocean between America and the war, not conventional borders on the map of a common continent. Therefore, Americans are ready to continue to help Ukraine, but they want guarantees that this assistance will not be charity, but will be properly compensated by the United States. "We tell Ukraine that they have very valuable rare earth metals... We want to make a deal with Ukraine where they will provide us with their minerals and other things," Trump said. 

Russia has already occupied 38% of Ukraine's rare earth mineral deposits, and the United States is interested in gaining access to Ukrainian resources. Ukraine has significant reserves of non-ferrous and rare earth metals, including unique deposits of beryllium, zirconium, tantalum, and a complex of phosphorus ores. Kyiv also has a real opportunity to enter the global market with pure and ultra-pure metals, such as gallium, indium, thallium, lead, and tin. Unfortunately, Ukraine's energy deposits, metals and minerals worth at least $12.4 trillion are already under Russian control. In addition to 63% of Ukraine's coal deposits, Moscow has appropriated 11% of oil deposits, 20% of natural gas deposits, 42% of metals, and 38% of deposits of rare earth and other critical minerals, including lithium. The Kremlin has seized 41 coal deposits, 27 natural gas fields, 14 propane fields, 9 oil fields, 6 iron ore fields, 2 titanium ore fields, 2 zirconium ore fields, one strontium field, one lithium field, one uranium field, one gold field, and a large limestone quarry. Thus, having invested $0.5 trillion in the war against Ukraine, Moscow has seized 25 times more natural resources than it invested, which only confirms the nature of this war as an exclusively predatory and colonial one.

Ukraine has the largest reserves of lithium, titanium and significant deposits of other minerals in Europe, which are needed to produce batteries, electric vehicles and other equipment, as well as to provide fuel for nuclear power plants. Therefore, Kyiv has developed an investment portfolio for their joint development worth $3.6 billion. Back in 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a list of minerals of strategic importance for the economy and defense, as well as the deposits where they are mined. The list includes 5 minerals: vanadium, lithium, titanium, uranium ores and potassium salt. These are the deposits for which production sharing agreements can be concluded, and these are 26 deposits.

Joint development of rare earth metal deposits was part of the Victory Plan of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which was proposed to the US President-elect in the fall of 2024. In particular, it was about the joint development of lithium and titanium deposits. The Victory Plan contains a proposal for international partners to jointly protect Ukraine's critical resources, jointly invest, and utilize its economic potential. After all, Ukraine's critical resource deposits, along with Ukraine's globally important energy and food production potential, are among the key aggressive goals of the Russian Federation in this war. "Ukraine proposes that the United States, together with certain partners, including the European Union, of which Ukraine will be a part, and other partners in the world, conclude a special agreement on joint protection of critical resources available in Ukraine, joint investment and use of the relevant economic potential. This is also peace through strength. Economic strength," V. Zelenskyy emphasized. The President of Ukraine expressed the opinion that such an agreement would organically complement and strengthen the existing system of economic pressure on Russia. Donald Trump, according to the Financial Times, is interested in this item of the "Victory Plan," and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that Ukrainian rare earths could become a strategic asset. President V. Zelensky in the fall already discussed this issue with Mr. Trump. 

Rare metals have unique properties that make them indispensable in high-tech industries, including the production of electronics, batteries, magnets, lasers and modern military equipment. Ukraine has lithium reserves - about a third of the proven reserves in Europe; graphite reserves - among the top 5 leading countries; titanium reserves - among the top 10 countries; uranium ore deposits - ranked first in Europe and 11th in the world. Ukraine also has reserves of other critical raw materials: manganese, iron, gold, lead, zinc, cobalt, nickel, copper, zirconium, etc. 

Does all this mean that Ukraine should expect new arms supplies from overseas and be prepared to continue the war. It is also possible that the US president will arm Ukraine to the teeth, but will not allow the use of all weapons now in the hope of a quick peace. As for rare earth metals, some of them are located in the occupied zone. Perhaps Ukraine will now be given weapons to return them militarily. German Chancellor Angela Scholz called the US President's proposal to "tie" aid to Kyiv to Ukrainian resources "selfish." According to him, Kyiv should use these resources to rebuild the country after the end of hostilities. Meanwhile, Ukraine is ready to reach an agreement with the US president, as there is an understanding among the population that if natural resources are not used together with the US, Russia will eventually be able to seize them for free, as it has already done in Donbas and the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. At the same time, Ukraine expects Washington to provide the necessary assistance in ending Russian aggression and reliable security guarantees to prevent future wars. 

Russian propaganda is trying to distort Trump's statements to discredit the Ukrainian leadership and partnership with Washington. However, cooperation with the US and the EU over Ukraine's strategic resources is a mutually beneficial partnership. After all, Kyiv retains control over its subsoil.